Someone said "it's in SharePoint": how do I find it?
Follow the whole route, from the library in your browser to the file's path on your computer.
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You already have all the pieces: you know a SharePoint library doesn't show up on your computer on its own, you know the two ways to bring it over, and you know how to copy and read a path. On this page you put them together into one route, the one you'll follow the next time someone tells you "it's in SharePoint."
It's the most common case in any office: someone uploads a file to their team's library, or to a Teams channel, and tells you in words where it ended up. You need three things: to see it in the browser, to have it on your computer and to know its path. The route below takes you through all three, using the button names from Microsoft's English help.
Before you open each step, try to say what comes next.
From Ana's message to the path on your computer
Worked example · 4 steps
Ana messages you: the price catalog is in SharePoint, in the Sales library. You want to open it from File Explorer and have its path for a program.
Work out the next step yourself, then open it to compare.
The same thing, by system
The route in the browser is the same on any computer. What changes is where you look for the folder at the end. Here's how Microsoft describes it:
- With a shortcut: in File Explorer, look for the OneDrive folder with your organization's name, for example
OneDrive - Contoso. The folder you added is inside it. - With sync: look in File Explorer's left pane for the folder with your organization's name, for example
Contoso. It's added on its own, and you can't choose another location. - To see which libraries you're syncing: select the OneDrive cloud icon in the notification area, then Settings and the Account tab. That's where the list of sites is, with Choose folders and Stop sync next to each one.
- With a shortcut: Microsoft only says that on a Mac you use Finder to find the OneDrive folder. The folder you added is inside it. Since macOS 12.1, your OneDrive folder shows up in the Finder sidebar, under Locations.
- With sync: Microsoft says the library shows up in Finder under your organization's name, with each synced library in its own subfolder. It doesn't give the exact path, so find it in Finder and read it in the path bar.
- For the path: in Finder, View > Show Path Bar, then Control-click the bar to copy it, as in module 1.
If something doesn't go the way you expect
- You don't see "Add shortcut to My files." Microsoft explains that the option doesn't appear if you've already added that folder, if you have more than one folder selected, if what you picked is a file and not a folder, if there are already 100 shortcuts in that library, or if the folder was shared with external users. If someone gave you a single file, add the folder it's in.
- Sync says "Sorry, we can't sync this folder." If the message goes on with "You're already syncing a shortcut to a folder from this shared library," you already have a shortcut to that library. Use that one, or remove the shortcut before you sync.
- "Which library do you want to sync?" appears. The site isn't set up for the OneDrive app. Let your IT department know.
- The shared folder doesn't show up on your computer. You may have selective sync turned on. In OneDrive's settings, Account tab, select Choose folders and make sure that folder is checked.
If it's none of these, tell your Maestro the exact message you're seeing.
The short version
Once you've done the route once, it goes faster. A library you added as a shortcut stays in your OneDrive and follows you to your other computers, so next time you only repeat the last two steps. If you synced it, it stays on that computer: Microsoft explains that to have it on another computer, you go to that computer and repeat the steps. Keep this list:
Open the library
In the browser, from the link you were sent, or from the app launcher, the team's site and Documents.
Bring it over one way only
Add shortcut to My files (what Microsoft recommends) or Sync. Never both on the same library.
Find it in File Explorer
In your OneDrive with your organization's name, or in the folder named after your organization if you synced.
Copy its path
That's the address you give a program, or anyone who asks you for it.
Try it
Follow the route with a real file from one of your team's libraries, all the way to its path. When you're done, you should be able to answer three questions without opening anything: which site and which library does the file live in? Which of the two ways did you bring it over? And which folder on your computer does it show up in? If at some step you don't see what you expect, tell your Maestro which step you got stuck on. Then answer the questions below.