If you want to add SharePoint to File Explorer in Windows 11/10, this step-by-step guide will help. Although SharePoint files or folders do not appear automatically in File Explorer, you can go through some simple steps to show them so that you can access them easily.
How to add SharePoint to File Explorer in Windows 11/10
To add SharePoint to File Explorer in Windows 11/10, follow these steps:
- Create a shortcut of SharePoint files to OneDrive
- Add a shortcut to OneDrive shared folders
- Synchronize and view SharePoint data
To learn more about these steps, continue reading.
1] Create a shortcut of SharePoint files to OneDrive
It is the very first step you need to go through. As said earlier, you cannot add SharePoint files directly to the File Explorer. That is why you need to take the help of OneDrive. To create a shortcut of SharePoint files to OneDrive, follow these steps:
First, you need to sign into the desired SharePoint site. In general, the site name looks like this:
https://your-organization-name.sharepoint.com/sites/your-project
Then, click on the settings gear icon visible in the top-right corner and select the Site contents option.
For your information, the Site contents section displays all the data you have used to create the site via SharePoint. From here, you need to choose a folder that you want to create the shortcut for.
Once you open the folder, you need to click on the Add shortcut to OneDrive option.
If you have already created a shortcut of OneDrive earlier in the File Explorer, you can click on the My files option. It redirects you to the File Explorer.
However, if you haven’t created that earlier, you need to follow the following steps to complete the job.
2] Add a shortcut to OneDrive shared folders
When you use the Add shortcut to OneDrive option, it creates a shared folder in the OneDrive automatically. Following that, you need to add that shared folder as a shortcut since OneDrive doesn’t do that even when you can find other regular folders easily.
To do so, you need to go through these steps:
First, open OneDrive in your browser and sign into your account. Then, click on the Shared option visible on the left-hand side.
Here you can find all the shared folders including the one made for SharePoint folder. You need right-click on that folder and select the Add shortcut to My files option.
Alternatively, you can select the folder by ticking the checkbox and selecting the Add shortcut to My files option visible in the top menu bar.
Once you do that, a shortcut to your shared folder will be created immediately.
3] Synchronize and view SharePoint data
If you have gone through the step above, you have already created the shortcut for your SharePoint folder. However, the data will not be synchronized immediately, so it is suggested that you synchronize the files manually.
For that, do the following:
First, sign into your SharePoint site and click on the settings gear icon. Then, select the Site contents option and open the folder you have created shortcut earlier.
After that, you can find a Sync option in the top menu bar.
Click on it and wait for a few moments. Once done, you can open the File Explorer to find the SharePoint files in Windows 11.
Read: How to create and edit classic SharePoint pages
Why is SharePoint not showing in File Explorer?
There could be multiple reasons why SharePoint is not showing in the File Explorer. Most of the common reasons are:
- Your internet connection is down and that is why your computer has not synchronized the data yet. In that case, you need to restore your internet connection.
- You have unlinked your PC.
- You have set a long name for the SharePoint file. Longer file paths can sometimes cause synchronization issues, so you need to opt for a shorter name.
- If you have deleted files, you need to restore the deleted data from the Recycle Bin.
- There are some issues with SharePoint. To solve that, you can sign out and re-sign into your account.
Is SharePoint the same as OneDrive?
No, SharePoint and OneDrive are different applications designed by Microsoft. You can use SharePoint to manage your team and collaborate on content. On the other hand, you can use OneDrive to store data.
