How to fix “Open with Explorer” issues in SharePoint Online?

In this article, we will learn how to troubleshoot issues that you may experience when you use the “Open with Explorer” command in SharePoint Online.

Before we get into the actual problem and resolution we must know about the “Open with Explorer” in SharePoint Online.

• The Open with Explorer command doesn’t work in the Microsoft Edge browser, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or on the Mac platform. Open with Explorer only works with Internet Explorer. However, beginning August 17th, 2021, Microsoft 365 apps will no longer support Internet Explorer 11.
• The Open with Explorer command is slower and less reliable than syncing SharePoint files with the new OneDrive sync client. The OneDrive sync client provides Files On-Demand, which allows you to access all your files in OneDrive without using local storage space.

Symptoms of the “Open with Explorer” issues

When we try to browse to a SharePoint Online document library, sometimes we may receive intermittent connectivity issues, and you may receive one of the following error messages:

• Your client does not support opening this list with Windows Explorer.
• We’re having a problem opening this location in File Explorer. Add this website to your Trusted Sites list and try again.
• We’re having a problem opening this location in File Explorer. To open with File Explorer, you’ll need to add this site to your Trusted Sites list and select the “Keep me signed in” check box when you sign in to the SharePoint Online site. For more information, see https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2629108.
• We’re having trouble opening this library in File Explorer. Syncing this library will give you a better experience.

Solution: Open with Explorer in SharePoint Online

To fix the above “Open with Explorer” issues in SharePoint Online, we may use any of the solutions below:

Authenticate to Office 365:

• Method 1: Use “Keep me signed in”: We can use the browser sign out and sign in again approach.
• Method 2: Use a persistent cookie – We can use the UsePersistentCookiesForExplorerView parameter for the Set-SPOTenant cmdlet that’s used in the SharePoint Online Management Shell.

Note:

• If you receive an Internet Explorer Security message that says, “A website wants to open web content using this program on your computer,” it’s likely that SharePoint Online isn’t added to the trusted sites zone in Internet Explorer. See the “Add your SharePoint Online sites to trusted sites” section of this article for more information about how to add SharePoint Online to your trusted sites.

If you get the above-trusted zone message – you need to add your SharePoint Online sites or Open with Explorer URL to trusted sites.

Summary: Open with Explorer in SharePoint Online

Thus, in this article, we have learned about how to fix “Open with Explorer” issues in SharePoint Online.

See Also: Open with Explorer in SharePoint Online

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About Post Author

MA Microsoft Techy

I am an Enterprise Architect with 20+ years of experience in Microsoft technologies, specializing in Power Platform, Microsoft 365, governance, AI-driven solutions, and enterprise automation. I share my technical expertise with the community through my blog and YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MicrosoftTechy

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