OneDrive Shortcut won't disappear

Dear @Kareem Culbertson,

It’s understandable to be hesitant about deleting anything when other people are using the same folder.

What you’re seeing is most likely a sync state mismatch between OneDrive in the cloud and the local File Explorer view. In this situation, the shortcut has already been removed or broken in the cloud, but your local OneDrive client still believes it needs to display that shortcut. Because the cloud no longer recognizes it as an active shortcut, the “Remove shortcut” option may no longer appear.

The important thing to note is that you do not need to stop syncing your entire OneDrive, and you are not deleting the actual files that other users rely on.

Before taking action, check the folder icon in File Explorer:

If the folder shows a small blue cloud or a chain‑link icon, it represents a shortcut, not the original data.

Deleting a shortcut only removes your local reference to the shared content. It does not delete the files from SharePoint or OneDrive for other users.

If the “Remove shortcut” option is missing, you can safely remove the shortcut using standard Windows deletion:

1. Select the shortcut folder in File Explorer.
2. Press the Delete key on your keyboard (or right‑click and choose Delete).

Once removed, OneDrive will detect that the shortcut is gone and will cleanly remove it from your sync list without affecting the data stored in the cloud.

I hope this helps clarify what’s happening. Please follow these steps and let me know if it works for you. If not, we can work together to resolve this. Thank you for your patience and understanding. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to share them in the comments so I can continue to support you. I'm looking forward to your reply.

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it.

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread. 

The shortcut can be removed locally without deleting the shared folder for everyone.

Use one of these methods:

1. From File Explorer (OneDrive folder)
   1. Open the OneDrive folder on the device.
   2. Locate the shortcut folder (it has a small link icon on it).
   3. Right‑click the shortcut folder and select Delete.
      • This deletes only the shortcut from the OneDrive folder on that account, not the actual shared folder or its contents.
   4. If deletion fails, pause OneDrive sync first, then try deleting again.
2. From OneDrive on the web
   1. Go to OneDrive on the web and sign in.
   2. Select My files.
   3. Find the shortcut folder (with the link icon).
   4. Right‑click it (or select the three dots menu) and choose Remove or Remove shortcut from My files.
      • This only removes the shortcut from that OneDrive; it does not affect the owner or other users.

Notes relevant to shared folders and shortcuts:

• Removing a shared folder shortcut from OneDrive (web or File Explorer) only removes it from that OneDrive and any synced devices for that user.
• Deleting the actual folder (not the shortcut) would delete it for everyone, so ensure the item being removed has the shortcut/link icon and that the command is Delete on the shortcut in the OneDrive folder or Remove shortcut / Remove shortcut from My files on the web.

References:

• You can't sync a shared folder that's set as a shortcut in OneDrive sync app
• Add shortcuts to shared folders in OneDrive