How To - Show Shared OneDrive Folder In Explorer

Overview

This post will cover how to display another shared OneDrive / Folder in Windows Explorer.

• UserA

  • Will be Sharing their OneDrive

• UserB

  • Is the person who wants User A’s OneDrive to show up in Explorer

Question for UserB

Do you want UserA’s full OneDrive to appear on your machine or just a shared folder?

Option 1

If UserB wants the full drive to show up, they will need to be given “Owner” status of the OneDrive. I will show you how to make a user an Owner later in this post, as it is NOT straightforward.

Option 2

If UserB wants one or more shared OneDrive folders to appear, they will need to be granted at least read access.

How To Share A OneDrive Folder

First, log in to OneDrive. In my OneDrive, I want to share my “Office Lens” folder with other people in my organization.

Select the folder and “Manage Access”

In the next screen, you will see something similar. You can assign people three different permissions. Essentially, the three permissions are:

1. Modify

2. Read Only with Download

3. Read Only

Enter the people you want to have access to this folder. Once done, click the “Grant Access” button. The button is grey in the screenshot because I haven’t added any new users. Once you add at least one person, the button will turn blue and you can click on it.

How to Check Permissions

Once you have given permission to the folder, you can double-check what permissions you have given:

As you can see, there are a few “Owners” and a few people with “Modify Access” to this folder. Owners can sync the entire OneDrive, while those with “Modify Access” can sync only the folders to which they have been granted access.

Note:

• We will need to return to this later, specifically under the “Links” tab.

How To Make A User An Owner Of A OneDrive (optional)

This step is optional if the person doesn’t need the entire OneDrive to show up in Explorer. If the person wants the entire Drive to show up, it is.

To make someone an Owner of a OneDrive, you need to follow these steps. Log on as the account you want to give the user access to. In our example above, since We Want to give Access to UserB, we will log in as UserA.

In UserA, we will need to go to Settings:

Then you will need to go to “More Settings” and “Site Collection Administrators”:

Then you need to enter the users you want to be Owners. You will need to enter the person’s name in the box. As you start typing the names, it will be autocompleted for you. Once the name is correct, hit enter. Rinse and repeat for each new user:

Get UserA to Send Link To UserB

UserA will need to send a link to UserB or anyone else who would like to have access to the OneDrive folder.

Click on a shared folder in OneDrive Web page and click Manage Access. See above for screenshots if you need it.

Copy the link you think that the other person (UserB) will need. Since they need to edit the file we will copy the second link. We will send that link to “UserB”

Set up UserB’s OneDrive

Now we are in the home stretch and almost done. UserB should already be logged into OneDrive and have at least one reboot since that login. If this hasn’t been done already, please do so.

Open the link that UserA sent you. You will have two options: you can click:

1. Click option 1 if you aren’t an Owner but do have Modify or Read Access

   1. The first time you click 'Sync' in a browser, it will ask if you want to automatically open links like this in the future with OneDrive. Say yes.

2. Click option 2 if you are an Owner

   1. This will bring you to the ROOT of the OneDrive

If you selected to go to the root of the OneDrive, you will now need to click “Sync”

Same as the Shared folder, it will ask you do you want to open this kind of links with OneDrive. Say yes and remember this setting.

Remote OneDrive In Explorer

Once you have followed these steps, you will see a new OneDrive Icon that resembles an Office Building. The name will most likely be the name of the company you work for. Under that, it will display either the shared folder name or, if you are an Owner and have synced the full drive, it will display 'UserA - Documents' and all the folders inside it.