How to change the User Account Control policies to allow OneDrive context menus

If you are missing OneDrive context menu items in Windows File Explorer, you won't see the options to "Share" or "View online".

This could be because your organization has restricted certain settings, or because OneDrive may be running with "elevated privileges", which is not supported.

To see if elevated privileges are the issue:

  1. Right-click the taskbar and select Task Manager.

  2. Select the Details tab.

  3. If you don't see the Elevated column, right-click a column header and choose Select columns and check the Elevated option to add it to the view.

  4. Look at the Elevated column for the OneDrive.exe and Explorer.exe processes. 

  5. Select the tab which describes the result

If the Elevated status is "No", change the User Account Control security settings using the steps below:

  1. Run secpol.msc to open the Local Security Policy.

  2. Expand Local Policies, then open the Security Options.

  3. Look for the policies regarding the User Account Control and set them as shown below:

    Policy

    Security Setting

    Virtualize file and registry write failures to per-user locations

    Enabled

    Switch to the secure desktop when prompting for elevation

    Disabled

    Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode

    Enabled

    Only elevate UIAccess applications that are installed in secure locations

    Enabled

    Only elevate executables that are signed and validated

    Disabled

    Detect application installations and prompt for elevation

    Enabled

    Behavior of the elevation prompt for standard users

    Prompt for credentials

    Behavior of the elevation prompt for administrators in Admin Approval Mode

    Elevate without prompting

    Allow UIAccess applications to prompt for elevation without using the secure desktop

    Disabled

    Admin Approval Mode for the Built-in Administrator account

    Enabled

  4. Restart the computer.

If the Elevated status is Yes, install OneDrive using the per machine installation option.

Notes: 

  • By default, the OneDrive sync app installs per user, meaning OneDrive.exe needs to be installed for each user account on the PC under the %localappdata% folder.

  • With the per machine installation option, you can install OneDrive under the “Program Files (x86)” directory, meaning all profiles on the computer will use the same OneDrive.exe binary. Other than where the sync client is installed, the behavior is the same.

  • Administrators can install OneDrive.exe with the /Allusers parameter.

Alternatively, set the User Account Control (UAC) to the lowest setting within the Control Panel by following the steps shown under Elevated is No.

If the OneDrive desktop app is installed on your computer, you should see the Share option when you right-click a file or folder in Explorer.

Explorer right-click menu showing OneDrive share command

If OneDrive is not running or the desktop app is not installed, you will not be able to share from File Explorer or Finder.

You can still share OneDrive files and folders from onedrive.com

  1. If you don't see the OneDrive icons on the taskbar or notification area, launch OneDrive.

  2. Windows users should select the OneDrive app with the folder icon:  OneDrive desktop app from start menu

    Tip: If you don't see this version, read Which OneDrive app? for more information.

See also

Share OneDrive files and folders

Unable to share OneDrive files

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