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OneDrive Web (Windows 11/Edge): No gallery view for folders shared with me

Bill Bailey 20 Reputation points
2025-08-12T18:11:53.6933333+00:00

A person has shared a folder of photos from their OneDrive account with me. When I open that shared folder in Microsoft Edge on Windows 11, I cannot view consecutive photos using the OneDrive "Gallery" view. Clicking on a photo thumbnail in the folder displays an enlarged image of the photo... but the Gallery view icons for "forward" and "back" are greyed out. So there is no way to view the album that has been shared with me except to view one image at time, navigate back to the shared folder and click on the next photo thumbnail. This is totally impractical.

I am fairly confident this feature used to exist in OneDrive for the web. This capability DOES exist in OneDrive on Android so I'm thinking there must be a bug in OneDrive for the web.

This bug/limitation prevents me from sharing photos with other users... which is one of the main reasons I have an MS 365 subscription and use OneDrive. Please consider looking into this and restoring the functionality to view Shared folders in full-fledged Gallery view.

Thank you.

Microsoft Edge | Other | Windows 11
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  1. Bryan-V 3,435 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2025-08-12T22:41:08.1966667+00:00

    Dear Bill Bailey,

    Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Q&A.

    This is a known and frustrating limitation when viewing folders directly from the "Shared" section of OneDrive on the web. The gallery view with forward and back arrows often doesn't work in this mode.

    To solve this issue, you could Add a shortcut to the shared folder in your own files:

    • Go to the "Shared" section on the left-hand menu of the OneDrive website.
    • Select the shared folder you want to view. You can either check the circle next to it or open the folder directly.
    • In the menu bar at the top of the page, click on "Add shortcut to My files".
    • Navigate back to "My files". You will now see the shared folder listed among your own files and folders (it will have a small link icon on it).
    • Open this folder from "My files" and click on any photo.

    The image will now open in the full gallery view, and the "forward" and "back" arrows will be active, allowing you to browse through all the photos seamlessly. This should restore the practical viewing experience you need for sharing photo albums.

    To assist others who might have similar questions and to help us improve our support system, we kindly encourage you to "Accept the answer" if it successfully addressed your concern. Accepting an answer lets other users know that this solution worked for you, and it also helps us track the effectiveness of our support efforts.

    Best regards, 

    Bryan Vu | Microsoft Q&A Support Specialist 

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  1. FARHAN AHMAD 0 Reputation points
    2025-08-13T09:28:59.9533333+00:00

    Hi, thanks for bringing this up.

    You’re right—OneDrive for the web used to allow full Gallery navigation in shared folders, but at the moment this feature seems to be missing or limited in the browser version. On Android, it still works because the mobile app handles shared media differently.

    For now, the only workarounds are:

    Download the folder and view it locally in the Photos app.

    Add the shared folder to your own OneDrive (if the owner allows it) so you can open it in Gallery view like your own files.

    I agree this is inconvenient, and it does seem like a regression. I’ll forward this feedback to Microsoft, as it would help restore a core sharing function many people rely on.

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