How to enable folder redirection with OneDrive
SOLUTION GUIDE
To redirect Windows folders such as Documents and Desktop to OneDrive for Business with standard Group Policy, OneDrive has to appear as a drive with a real path. Cloud Drive Mapper provides that drive, so you can point folder redirection at a location on the mapped OneDrive drive, the same way you used to point it at a file server.
What is folder redirection?
Folder redirection is a Windows Group Policy feature that stores users' shell folders, such as Documents, Desktop and Pictures, in a network location instead of on the local disk. Users carry on working in the same folders; the files just live somewhere safer and follow them from device to device.
Why redirect folders to OneDrive?
To keep data off devices. Files on a local disk are exposed to loss, theft, hardware failure and malware. Redirected to OneDrive, they sit behind Microsoft 365's security, so a lost or broken laptop costs you a replacement device, not your data.
Can Group Policy redirect folders to OneDrive on its own?
Not directly. Folder redirection needs a path to point at, and OneDrive for Business doesn't present as a drive letter by default, so the standard tooling has nothing stable to target.
Microsoft's own approach is Known Folder Move, which moves Desktop, Documents and Pictures into OneDrive through the OneDrive sync client. That works, but the files are still synced to each device, with the local copy, delays and 300,000-item ceiling that come with sync.
How do you set up folder redirection with Cloud Drive Mapper?
With Cloud Drive Mapper (CDM) in place, OneDrive for Business is a real network drive, so Windows' built-in folder redirection can target it like a traditional file share:
- Deploy CDM and map each user's OneDrive for Business as a drive (see how to map OneDrive as a network drive).
- In your folder redirection Group Policy, set the target for Documents, Desktop, Pictures and any other shell folders to a location on the mapped OneDrive drive.
- As the policy applies, users' redirected folders save to OneDrive instead of the local disk.
Your administrators keep the model they already know: a stable network drive, a Group Policy and a redirected folder. The destination is Microsoft 365 instead of a file server. If you'd like help planning it for your environment, talk to our team.
Should you use folder redirection or Known Folder Move?
- Known Folder Move suits individual laptops where users are happy to keep a synced local copy.
- Folder redirection with CDM suits shared workstations, virtual desktops and organisations that want data kept off devices, because there's no full local copy and the policy model is the one you already run.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between folder redirection and Known Folder Move?
Folder redirection is a Group Policy feature that points Windows folders at a network location. Known Folder Move is Microsoft's OneDrive feature that moves Desktop, Documents and Pictures into OneDrive using the sync client, so the files are still synced to each device.
Which folders can be redirected to OneDrive?
Documents, Desktop, Pictures and the other Windows shell folders that Group Policy folder redirection supports.
Does folder redirection to OneDrive work on virtual desktops?
Yes. CDM supports multi-session and non-persistent desktops, including mandatory profiles, on Azure Virtual Desktop, Citrix, Omnissa Horizon and RDS, which is where keeping user folders off the device matters most.
Do users have to change how they work?
No. Their Documents and Desktop folders look and behave as before. The files are stored in their OneDrive for Business.
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