Stop Syncing Your OneDrive Like It's 2007: Use Shortcuts

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M365 Show Podcast

Mirko Peters

366 episodes

1 day ago

Welcome to the M365 Show — your essential podcast for everything Microsoft 365, Azure, and beyond. Join us as we explore the latest developments across Power BI, Power Platform, Microsoft Teams, Viva, Fabric, Purview, Security, and the entire Microsoft ecosystem. Each episode delivers expert insights, real-world use cases, best practices, and interviews with industry leaders to help you stay ahead in the fast-moving world of cloud, collaboration, and data innovation. Whether you're an IT professional, business leader, developer, or data enthusiast, the M365 Show brings the knowledge, trends, and strategies you need to thrive in the modern digital workplace. Tune in, level up, and make the most of everything Microsoft has to offer.

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Stop Syncing Your OneDrive Like It's 2007: Use Shortcuts

M365 Show Podcast

19 minutes

1 week ago

Stop Syncing Your OneDrive Like It's 2007: Use Shortcuts

The Hidden Cost of Traditional Syncing (a.k.a. The 2007 Method) Clicking Sync on an entire library feels familiar. It’s also why your machine wheezes.

Metadata overhead: the client tracks names, sizes, versions, permissions—for every item. Thousands of items = thousands of disk/CPU hits.
File system tax: the OS renders thumbnails, indexes, and watches changes for folders you never use.
Network churn: Files On-Demand still evaluates each item for changes and conflicts. Your bandwidth pays for “Are we still in sync?” heartbeats.
Storage creep: “Always keep on this device” on big folders = silent GB hoarding (plus temp caches and version spillover).
Fragility: one bad path/permission stalls the whole queue. Big scope = big failure surface.
Governance drift: local copies invite forks (Desktop/email/USB). Retention and labels lose grip.
Cross-device Groundhog Day: new laptop? Rebuild the same giant syncs, re-index the same pile.

Reality: performance degrades exponentially with item count. You’re optimizing for comfort, not efficiency. Introducing OneDrive Shortcuts — The Cloud-Native Way Add shortcut to OneDrive creates lightweight pointers to the exact folders you work in. They show up in OneDrive (web), File Explorer/Finder, and roam to every device you sign into. Why it’s better

Smaller sync graph: fewer watched nodes → fewer CPU wakeups, fewer conflicts, faster folder opens.
Focused offline: mark only the subfolders/files you need as Always keep on this device.
Cross-device sanity: shortcuts follow you; no re-sync rituals on new hardware.
Governance preserved: you’re working in the source—labels, permissions, retention, versioning all apply.
Lower mental load: curate the 3–5 places you actually use. Doors, not duplicates.

If you remember one line: Use doors to the source, not copies of the building. Step-by-Step — Add Shared Content as Shortcuts (No Bloat)

Go to SharePoint → open the specific folder you use (not the root).
Click Add shortcut to OneDrive.
Open OneDrive (web) → My files → find the shortcut (chain-link icon).
Rename the shortcut for clarity (e.g., “Client A – Contracts”).
In File Explorer/Finder → open your OneDrive.
- Right-click a shortcut → Pin to Quick Access/Sidebar.
- For travel, right-click only the needed subfolders/files → Always keep on this device.
Replacing an old full sync?
- OneDrive Settings → Stop sync on that library.
- Close any open files, let the queue clear.
- Use your new shortcut instead.
Curate more: add shortcuts from other sites. Optionally group them in a local “Work Hubs” folder.
Remove a shortcut anytime (it deletes the door, not the source).

Mistakes to avoid

Shortcutting the entire library root “just in case.”
Marking the whole shortcut Always keep on this device.
Dragging files out to Desktop “for speed” (that’s how versions fork).
Re-syncing whole libraries out of habit.

Managing Shortcuts — Order Beats Hoarding Keep your hallway of doors clean.

Name with 3 parts: Team – Purpose – Timeframe
e.g., Finance – Q4 Reporting – 2025
Create hubs: Clients, Internal, Archive. Keep a tiny Now folder for the top 3.
Pin with intent: only 3–5 Quick Access/Sidebar pins.
Sub-favorites: inside a shortcut, favorite the 1–2 subfolders you touch daily.
Monthly 10-minute audit:
- Not used in 30 days? Archive/remove.
- Confusing names? Fix.
- Duplicates/overlaps? Consolidate.
Remove safely: clear any offline pins, then Remove shortcut. Source remains.
Clean legacy syncs: Stop sync, upload any strays to the right SharePoint path, delete the leftover local artifact.
Mirror governance cues: include sensitivity/site prefixes (e.g., [Confidential] Legal...