Fix Links and Shortcuts After Your Files Move to Teams

Issues

  • My desktop shortcut to the J: drive stopped working. How do I fix it?
  • Why do all my recent files in Word still point at the old Microwave drive?
  • My Excel workbook says it cannot find the linked workbook. What do I do?
  • How do I repoint a Power Query source that still reads from J:?
  • My Finder alias to the department drive will not open on my Mac. What replaces it?
  • A hyperlink inside an old Word document points at the J: drive and fails. How do I correct it?
  • My Outlook signature image disappeared after the migration. How do I get it back?
  • Can I map a drive letter so my old J: paths keep working?
  • Where do I get a link to a Teams folder that will keep working?
  • Do I have to fix every link in every file before I can start using Teams?

Environment

This article applies to Bowdoin faculty and staff in a department whose shared files have been migrated from the Microwave departmental drive (J:) into a Microsoft Team. Knowing which Team and which channel now holds your department's files is the starting point for repointing anything.

  • Bowdoin-issued Windows 11 computers and Bowdoin-issued Macs running macOS Sequoia (15.x), Tahoe (26.x), or newer are supported. Personally owned computers are best-effort only.
  • Sign in to Microsoft 365 at https://office365.bowdoin.edu.
  • Locating your department's migrated files is a separate task. For that, see Find Your Department's Files in Teams in the Related Articles section.
  • The old J: folder stays available in read-only form for one year after your department's migration and is then removed. Old files can still be opened to check what a link used to point at, but nothing can be saved into the old location.
  • Microsoft Excel names its link tools differently in Microsoft 365 versions of Excel than in older versions, and both namings are covered.
  • Deciding what should not move into a Teams channel at all is not covered here. For that, see What Not to Move into Teams in the Related Articles section.

Resolution

Why paths that point at the Microwave (J:) drive stop working Fix links when they fail rather than auditing every file Replace desktop shortcuts and Finder aliases Rebuild recent and pinned documents in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Repoint an Excel workbook that links to another workbook Repoint a Power Query source or linked table Repair hyperlinks, bookmarks, and email signatures Get a link to a Teams location that will keep working

Why paths that point at the Microwave (J:) drive stop working

A path such as J:\Registrar\Forms names a drive letter mapped to a Bowdoin file server. Files in Microsoft Teams are not on a file server and have no drive letter. Teams files live in a Microsoft SharePoint document library reached by a web address, and no supported way exists to map a drive letter to a Team. A J: path therefore cannot be translated into an equivalent Teams path. Every link that names a J: path has to be replaced with a Teams link or with a shortcut.

Note: The old J: folder stays readable for one year after your department's migration, so an old file can still be opened to look up what a broken link used to point at. Nothing can be saved into the old location during that year.

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Fix links when they fail rather than auditing every file

Hunting down every old link before you start working is not worth the effort. Most old links sit in files nobody opens again. Repair a link the first time something actually fails, and let the rest go when the old drive is removed.

Important: Workbooks, queries, and templates your department runs on a schedule, such as a monthly report, are the exception. Repoint those before the old Microwave (J:) drive is removed one year after your department's migration.

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Replace desktop shortcuts and Finder aliases

An old desktop shortcut or Finder alias cannot be edited to point at Microsoft Teams, so delete it. Replace it by adding the channel folder as a shortcut in OneDrive, which then appears in Windows File Explorer or macOS Finder as a folder you open normally. A shortcut is the recommended default for reaching Teams files from a computer. For the steps, see Add a Shortcut to a Teams Channel or Shared Folder in OneDrive in the Related Articles section. If you have a specific reason to need the files fully downloaded instead, see Choose How Teams and Shared Files Appear on Your Computer in the Related Articles section.

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Rebuild recent and pinned documents in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

The recent list in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint still holds the old J: paths, so every entry in it fails. The recent list repairs itself: open each document once from its new home in Microsoft Teams and the list fills in with the working location. Pinned documents behave the same way. Unpin the broken entry, open the file from Microsoft Teams, then pin the file again. For ways to open Teams files directly in the Microsoft 365 desktop apps, see Open Teams Files in the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Desktop Apps in the Related Articles section.

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Repoint an Excel workbook that links to another workbook

A workbook with formulas that read from another workbook prompts you about links it cannot update.

Microsoft 365 versions of Excel

  1. Open the workbook and select the Data tab.
  2. In Queries and Connections, select Workbook Links.
  3. Select the broken link, select More Commands, then select Change source.
  4. Browse to the same workbook in its new Microsoft Teams location and select it.
  5. Save the workbook. If a link is no longer needed at all, select Break links instead, which converts the formulas to their current values.

Older versions of Excel

Older versions of Excel offer the same tools in an Edit Links dialog, with Change Source and Break Link buttons.

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Repoint a Power Query source or linked table

A Power Query query that imported a file or a folder from the Microwave (J:) drive keeps that path inside the query. In Excel, select Data, then Get Data, then Data Source Settings. Select the old J: path, select Change Source, and point the query at the same data in its new Microsoft Teams location. Refresh the query to confirm that it works. A query that reads a whole folder needs the new folder path rather than a single file.

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Repair hyperlinks, bookmarks, and email signatures

Word documents and PDF files

Hyperlinks inside old Word documents and Portable Document Format (PDF) files still contain J: paths, and no bulk fix exists. Edit the hyperlink in the Word document and replace the address with a Microsoft Teams link. A PDF has to be corrected in its original document and exported again.

Browser bookmarks

Bookmarks that pointed at the Bowdoin file server no longer resolve. Delete them, sign in to Microsoft 365 at https://office365.bowdoin.edu, then bookmark the channel or the folder in the browser.

Email signatures and templates

When a signature image, a letterhead, or a mail-merge data file was read from the J: drive, Microsoft Outlook and Word fail to find it. Copy those files into the Teams channel, then attach them again from the new location. A signature image has to be embedded in the signature rather than linked, or the image will break again.

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Get a link to a Teams location that will keep working

For a durable address to a channel folder that you can paste into documents, signatures, and bookmarks, see Get URLs for Teams Channel Folders in the Related Articles section. For a link to a single file, see Share a File or Folder from Teams or OneDrive in the Related Articles section. When you cannot tell where a file ended up after the migration, see Find a File in Teams, SharePoint, or OneDrive in the Related Articles section.

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Additional Help

If you need further assistance, you have several options:

  • Bowdoin Bot: Chat with Bowdoin Bot directly from any KB page for instant answers.
  • Phone: Call the Bowdoin College Service Desk at (207) 725-3030.
  • In person: Visit the Tech Hub in Smith Union during business hours.
  • Submit a ticket: Request assistance through the Service Catalog.

Additional Resources

 

 

AI-assisted content: This article was created with AI. It was verified and edited by a human.
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