Teams Folders in Windows File Explorer

You can add Shared Libraries (Team Channels) to your Windows File Explorer. This is a preferred method if you are going to add a large number of Shared Libraries to Windows explorer as this method will also include the Team name. This method does require you to work in both the desktop Teams application and the OneDrive web interface to complete the process.

Log into the university's Microsoft web portal using your Ohio State University username and password (lastname.#). Navigate to OneDrive.

Move to the MS Teams desktop client. Navigate to the Team that contains the shared library you want to add and click on the appropriate channel. In this example I am using the General channel of the Administrative Resource Team.

Once inside the channel click on the Files tab at the top. Then click on Open in SharePoint. This will open your default web browser directly to that Team and Channel.

In the toolbar at the top click Sync.

A pop-up screen will appear. Click Sync Now.

The next screen will be a confirmation asking you to open OneDrive. If you do not see the window and instead see a log in screen, then you were not successfully logged into OneDrive before you started. This can cause an issue and you will not get your desired results. You will have to start from the beginning. On the confirmation screen click Open OneDrive.

Your screen will flash and then you will receive a pop up saying you are syncing the folder.

Navigate to the Windows File Explorer and open it. You will see the Name of the Team and the name of the Channel underneath your OneDrive account. It will be tucked underneath the name of your tenant. So, in this example it says The Ohio State University (my tenant) and under that the name of the Team (Administrative Resource Center) and the name of the Channel (General). This allows a deep level of understanding of where the files are located compared to adding a Team folder to My Files. If you would prefer to just add a shortcut to My Files please see Adding Teams Folders to My Files in OneDrive.

Removing a Shared Library from Windows Explorer

Since the folder is synced you must stop the syncing before you can remove it from your Windows File Explorer. Start by right clicking on the folder you would like to remove in File Explorer. In the action menu click Settings.

In the Settings window on the Account tab look for the name of the Team/Channel that you want to remove and click Stop Sync for that folder. Then click OK.

In the confirmation window click Stop Sync.

If the folder does not disappear from your list you can right click and click delete, however it should disappear after a few moments.