Windows 10: Briefcase symbol on almost all OneDrive file icons, open with broken

On a Windows 10 21H1 computer I have a corporate installation with OneDrive set up to sync with the cloud. In the local OneDrive folder, almost all files have a brown briefcase icon, which means the file is a Work file under Windows Information Protection. This is causing problems. "Open with" is broken. No matter the file type is defined, "open with" will not remember the choice the next time. So every time a "Work" file is opened it asks what program to open with, defaulting to some unwanted program. There is also an extra 5-second delay before the open with window appears. Such file's File ownership is my employer's company. It is possible to copy such file to a normal folder and then right-click, File ownership, Personal. That converts the file to a completely normal file without problems (but converts back to Work if copied under the OneDrive folder). The strange thing is this briefcase file status only happens on one of my computers. Other computers have the same exact thing (files under synced OneDrive folder) without the briefcase. The non-problematic computers have an older version of Windows 10 so one suspicion is that this problem could be specific to 21H1. Does anyone know what causes this briefcase problem? How to disable that or fix the "open with" problem permanently ("Choose default apps by file type" is completely ignored)?

:)

 

synch Briefcase files

Hi,

Briefcase is a special folder in the Windows operating system that supports a simple file synchronization between itself and another folder. However, this is no longer available in Windows 10. You can consider using alternative options such as using OneDrive.
Just store anything on your OneDrive folder and it's automatically available on your other devices that are synchronized to your OneDrive account.

Regarding your concern about Windows briefcase, we need additional details so that we can provide the next steps you can take to resolve the issue. Kindly provide the answers to the questions below:

• How did you enable the briefcase option in your Windows 10 computer?
• How do you usually access the briefcase folder in your computer?
• Which version and build of Windows 10 do you have installed.

We look forward to your response to our queries.

 

windows 10 Briefcase slow to open

This assumes that you have installed Microsoft briefcase in win 10.

The question is why does it take so long for the briefcase to open?

Here are the steps.

A. briefcase function slow

1. Shortcut to a folder which is in a briefcase is located on start menu.

2. open start menu and double click on shortcut.

3. wait 15 seconds for folder to open.

B. desktop opens slow

1. Click file explorer on taskbar.

2. Click Desktop. display shows "working on it" . 7 seconds later desktop appears.

C. simple fix, but why does this work is the question.

1. create a new briefcase with nothing in it, place in start menu

2. open start menu and click on new briefcase

3. new briefcase opens immediately.

4. open start menu

5. click on original shortcut to file in briefcase.

6. file opens immediately.

7. repeat steps to open desktop.

8. desktop opens immediately.

 

Briefcase

Briefcase is old technology. Microsoft long ago moved on from Briefcase, and you should too. In technology, clinging to the past is deadly. Microsoft dropped support for Briefcase long ago, so if you continue to use it you are literally working
the trapeze without a net.

It is interesting, however, how prescient Microsoft was when it introduced Briefcase with Windows 95, as this was the forerunner of OneDrive. The next step after Briefcase was SyncToy, one of Windows XP's so-called Power Toys, which made the idea of syncing
more consumer-friendly.

Today, syncing is universal and accomplished with cloud storage. Whether you choose OneDrive , Google Drive, iCloud or any of the many other cloud storage choices, all you have to do is upload to the cloud and your files are instantly available everywhere.

And today you can do things with cloud storage that could never be done with Briefcase or SyncToy. To give one example: you can use Microsoft Office to edit files in the cloud and have the changes instantly available on all your cloud-connected devices.