View document libraries in file explorer

Caution!

Accessing SharePoint document libraries via the file explorer or WebDAV has been used historically for use cases such as copying and moving files as well as online editing for non-office files.

With modern browsers, authentication and security models, this should not be your first option, since it requires you to allow connections from clients that do not use modern authentication.

You should also be aware that overwriting an existing file using the file explorer or WebDAV will not add a new version. Instead it will move the current file to the recycle bin and then upload the new file. Because of this the file will not have a version history as it is essentially a new file in the system.

Since Microsoft Edge version 95 on Windows you can open SharePoint document libraries in the file explorer, similarily to a network file share. This is an opt-in feature that needs to be enabled on the organization and on each client machine.

  1. Enable the ConfigureViewInFileExplorer Edge policy on the client machine using the registry or group policy.
    1. Create a reg file (using Notepad for example) with the following content:
      Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
      [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge]
      "ConfigureViewInFileExplorer"="[{\"cookies\": [\"rtFa\", \"FedAuth\"], \"domain\": \"[tenant].sharepoint.com\"}]"
    2. Replace [tenant] with the hostname for your SharePoint Online.
    3. Double-click the file to import it to the registry
  2. Enable View In File Explorer in SharePoint Online
    1. Install SharePoint Online Management Shell
    2. Open PowerShell
    3. Run: Connect-SPOService "https://[tenant]-admin.sharepoint.com"
    4. Run: Set-SPOTenant -ViewInFileExplorerEnabled $True
  3. Open a document library
    1. Open Microsoft Edge
    2. Open the SharePoint document library that you want to view in file explorer
    3. Sign out
    4. Sign in again and make sure you select keep me signed in
    5. From the view dropdown, select “View in File Explorer”

Troubleshooting

You may need to allow apps that don’t support Modern Authentication in SharePoint Online. You can access these settings from the SharePoin Admin Center under Policies > Access Control. Non modern authentication may also be blocked via Conditional Access.

Try clearing browser data and restarting the machine.

If you still have issues you can try troubleshooting this by using a network tracing tool, such as Fiddler.

References

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/deployedge/microsoft-edge-policies#configureviewinfileexplorer

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/sharepoint-view-in-edge

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