Oh No! Microsoft have removed shared folders from Windows Live Messenger in their latest version (version 14, 2009). This is feature I rely on heavily to shared photos with my father as he isn’t very tech savvy. I have put a short-cut on his desktop that links to the shared folder, and his messenger logs in automatically. I could switch him over to live mesh, but unfortunately I’m 5000 km away from him and I’m not sure when I’ll get access to his PC again.
Fortunately older versions of messenger are still available, so I downloaded version 8.1 from 14 months ago from here:
However now I get a message saying shared folders aren’t available. hmmm.
John Stewien's Road To Somewhere Else 
If you\’re thinking about going back to a previous version of WLM, like version 8.0, forget it. Even if you completely remove everything associated with WLM version 14, including the folders in Program Files, on running the install of Live Messenger 8.0, you\’ll still be forced to upgrade to version 14. As far as I can tell, there\’s no way to go back to an older version short of doing a system restore. If you upgrade to WLM version 14, you\’re stuck with it.
msn 2009 have shared folder too…it is not disappear or removed..msn make it to be a program now..it called windows LIVE SYNCand u can download and setup all the thing on sync.live.comit is the same function of last version but also more convience…and powerfull now
What bugs me the most with the Live team is that they don\’t consider people actually using their tools, and relying on it. They just switch things off without thinking about people that are thousands of miles away. Live Sync is decent (it\’s a watered-down version of Foldershare), but they pull the same crap with it – they \’upgrade\’ without notice, rendering synchronization processes worthless.
Is there a way of retrieving the shared files? I had a word document of 120 pages in a shared files which disappeared when I downloaded the new WLM. Installing Live Sync didn\’t recreate the folder, anyways. But I guess the file is still on the internet somewhere?
Windows Live Messenger "Sharing Folders" was seamless. There was no additional software to install and learn. There was no website needed. There were no passwords needed. All that was needed was a recent version of Messenger on each computer. This is definitely not an improvement. For those who are tech savvy I guess it would be manageable but I don\’t think that MS realizes how many elderly people rely on the simplicity of the "sharing files" for there family communications.Microsoft has to start serving the needs of the user and not only the needs of Microsoft.
stupid microsoft, cant they see a lot of people rely on this feature? bring it back for gods sake.
I was just hit with the same realization – I\’ve lost the ability to access or view all my Shared Folders now that I\’m on Windows Live Messenger 2009 build 14. I contacted Windows Live Email Support yesterday and pleaded for a resolution even though I had already deduced from the Forums that all was lost and unretrievable. I got a response from "Mac" saying:"The sharing folders should still be on the computer but you can only access or open them by using Windows Live Messenger 8.5. You can downgrade back to Windows Live Messenger 2008 (8.5) to access again your sharing folders.""Mac" provided a link to the 8.5 version but the Forums led me to believe that this would most likely just open me up to a host of cascading problems with fragmentation and conflicts related to "downgrading".FYI – PROBLEM SOLVED – PREVIOUS SHARED FOLDERS ARE EASILY ACCESSIBLE IN WINDOWS LIVE MESSENGER 2009 BUILD 14 – NO DOWNGRADE NEEDED – 3 CLICKS OR LESS (Let\’s hope this works for everyone)(Sign in to Windows Live Messenger 2009 build 14)Go to your Menu Bar (File-Contacts-Actions-Tools-Help) – you might have these across the top or you\’ll have a Show Menu icon just below your Inbox icon/link.CLICK 1 – click (or hover if using Show Menu) on Actions to open the dropdownCLICK 2 – click on View Your Online FilesCLICK 3 – when prompted, click on View Your Sharing Folders Files On Your ComputerA big THANKS to my Dad who took it upon himself to find this simple (and seemingly unknown) solution because his son was upset and he loves him so much. My Dad is smarter than Microsoft Tech Support!!!
a very usefull document, many thanks, however i still cant recover my old files from my original shared folder.
I some how ended up with Live Messenger 14 2009 and I\’m very upset that I no longer have my Shared Folder to keep pics, info, etc for my Live Messenger contacts. I\’m going to try to uninstall it and then install WLM8.5. Has anydid it work?
I hate the fact that I have to store the files on some remote server!
Microsoft forcing users to upgrade to the new live messenger. As a result shared folder use is now closed.
no love
i can\’t believe alll of my pictures are gone in my sharing folder. i had sooo many ughh! i hate this new one
the previous version of the 14 was the best version ever of mns with the shared folders. This new is completly disaster, to many colours, no many options and no friendly use, looks like a barbie tool. also apart of they dont give the updated versions to apple. what they should. do it PLEASE ADD again the shared foldere, and STOP COPYING APPLE,microsoft is getting worst every day. like windows xp it was good until appear Vista, vista is complety crap as well. They lunch a product without tested completly. WANT MORE? MS OFFICE 200 is compatible with 2007, an XLSX file if have many cells set, doens\’t open in the 2003 and vice versa. F…. Incredible. I Just saying this because i have to use Ms at work, because at I use apple. i promisse to my self that i\’ll never bought a pc with MS tools again. Hope Google will give a lesson as well.
Windows Live Messenger\’s Shared Files option offered team collaboration. You had a folder that was shared privately between you and any contact on your list. Each contact had their own shared folder with you, that was automatically synced to the most recent copy when you were both online. The data was not stored on an online service, so you will not find any of your files "on the internet somewhere". If you are lucky, the data will be in C:\\Documents and Settings\\Username\\Local Settings\\Application Data\\Microsoft\\Messenger\\Passport ID\\Sharing Folders – if not, sorry, it\’s gone. Check the recycle bin but it\’s unlikely to be there.Windows Live Sync is not the same as Shared Folders in Windows Live Messenger. Live Sync is for syncronising your own files between your own computers via an online service.View Online Files in Windows Live Messenger 14 is not the same either. That is an online storage system in Windows Live offering 25Gb of online storage, some of which can be public. You upload files via HTTP through a web page. It\’s not as slick or instant as Shared Folders was, but it does offer more features in terms of sharing with people when you\’re offline. I consider it a few steps backwards.I suspect it was removed because it offered a free alternative to their own Groove 2007 software. They think people will be forced to buy Groove 2007 if they really need that facility.