Add Shortcut to OneDrive still deleted SharePoint Online files

Mike Williams I suggest you re-check my very first post. The very first screenshot has the sync status: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/onedrive-for-business/add-shortcut-to-onedrive-still-deleted-sharepoint-online-files/m-p/3563144/highlight/true#M9982

I reconfirm that my file operation (action of deleting) was the same whether or not I deleted it from onedrive.com or File Explorer. Here is another screencast of the same scenario, but this time deleting the folder through File Explorer: https://mike.getsharex.com/2022/07/20220703_I7chGcVyiY.mp4

You will see that OneDrive app treats it as removing the shortcut, even if we chose Delete. So in other words, if OneDrive app sees the folder as a Shortcut Folder, then there is no harm done. You cannot accidentally delete the contents of the folder from SharePoint Online site.

The danger is if OneDrive app faces an anomaly and cannot see it as a Shortcut Folder, as I have repeatedly shown, the third folder does not have a Shortcut Icon. That's bizarre when that folder was added as a shortcut just like other two folders. 

"My screenshots provided sufficient information to familiarise with the issue.

For instance, using this screenshot: https://mike.getsharex.com/2022/07/20220703_msedge_slJHm4PwN4.png"

Screenshots provided omit the critical detail of displaying the sync state of local files.

The location of My Files is also irrelevant.

However the Microsoft article you reference agrees with what I said "
"To remove a shared folder on OneDrive.com:

In the My files view, select the shared folder you want to remove.

Select Remove shortcut.

This only removes the folder from your OneDrive - it's still accessible from your Shared list and doesn't affect the owner or anyone else sharing the folder. If you delete the folder instead, it's deleted from everyone's OneDrive and the folder owner would have to restore it."

Please take note of the last line.

Mike Williams 

I am very much familiar with OneDrive, SharePoint Online and Teams.

My screenshots provided sufficient information to familiarise with the issue.

For instance, using this screenshot: https://mike.getsharex.com/2022/07/20220703_msedge_slJHm4PwN4.png

You can see that the folder path starts with My files. This means you can see where the screenshot is taken from. I am on my OneDrive, and not in SharePoint Online.

You can then see there are three folders:

• Documents – C115.15 Procurement (with shortcut icon)
• Documents – C115.15 Smart Freeways (with shortcut icon)
• Documents – C115.15 SWA (no shortcut icon)

Having no shortcut icon is bizarre for the third folder because I added these three shortcuts in identical manner from SharePoint Online. The third folder encountered errors when OneDrive app was syncing. This was due to long file paths as mentioned earlier. The shortcut icon disappeared after that. This was the anomaly.

I also did a test by creating another shortcut folder. Deleting the shortcut folder did not delete the folder from SharePoint Online site as expected. Here is a screencast:

https://mike.getsharex.com/2022/07/20220703_58Q3qb9iYf.mp4

Furthermore, there is a Microsoft article agreeing with my observations:

https://mike.getsharex.com/2022/07/20220703_msedge_Toy8gPLlPp.png

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/add-shortcuts-to-shared-folders-in-onedrive-for-work-or-school-d66b1347-99b7-4470-9360-ffc048d35a33#:~:text=Tips%3A,Add%20shortcut%20to%20My%20files.

I have spent considerable time responding to your replies unfortunately with no positive outcome. If you have no solution to offer, I kindly request you to invest your time elsewhere in this forum and preclude yourself from having misassumptions with my issue.

Thanks,

Michael

Your screenshots don't show enough information. If your work files were not online only then they won't be deleted (there's a message stating this unless you've disabled this). It's impossible to tell the sync state of your different situations. You need to familiarise yourself with this feature as I have dealt with so many people who delete SharePoint files when they meant to clear space or unsync.

I just ran tests with a shortcut folder - deleting the linked folder deleted the files as expected.