SharePoint Folder (Preview) Shortcut - undefined

[ptmk25]

Creating a SharePoint Folder (Preview) Shortcut, and pointing it to a folder ( no hyphens ) to a file of type *.xlsx it never gets to the Transform page as below ( from Youtube ). In the end, the file goes into unidentified.
"Unable to identify these objects as tables or views. To keep these objects in the lakehouse, move them to Files."

Tried OneDrive and same result. Admin on the workspace have all permissions on the file... yes refreshed and waited and nothing changed. Thanks.

[v-echaithra]

Hi  @ptmk25,

We’d like to follow up regarding the recent concern. Kindly confirm whether the issue has been resolved, or if further assistance is still required. We are available to support you and are committed to helping you reach a resolution.

Thank you.

[v-echaithra]

Hi @ptmk25 ,

May I ask if you have resolved this issue? Please let us know if you have any further issues, we are happy to help.

Thank you.

[v-echaithra]

Hi @ptmk25 ,

Thank you for your response, we understand your goal of showcasing this functionality without relying on workarounds.

At the moment, when creating shortcuts at the folder level, Fabric may not consistently recognize Excel files as structured sources. This is a known limitation in the current preview behavior rather than something that can be configured or overridden.

As of now, there isn’t an alternative approach to force recognition of the file as an Excel source in this scenario. We agree this can feel like a product gap, and we recommend continuing to monitor for updates as the feature evolves. Please let us know if you need any further assistance.

Thank you,
Chaithra E.

[nilendraFabric]

Hi @ptmk25 

I think this is a known limitation with SharePoint/OneDrive folder shortcuts in Fabric Lakehouses. The shortcut brings the .xlsx files into the lakehouse, but the engine can’t automatically parse them as tabular objects  so they land as “unidentified” instead of triggering the Transform-to-Delta flow.

Create the shortcut pointing directly to the individual .xlsx file rather than the parent folder. File-level shortcuts are more reliably recognized for transformation.
If you need multiple files, use a Dataflow Gen2 or a notebook (with pandas or openpyxl) to read the .xlsx files from the Files section and write them out as Delta tables. This gives you full control over schema and is the most reliable path.

[ptmk25]

Thanks but in the youtube video -  same as what I am doing - you cannot select the file but the folder.
I keep one single file only in the folder, selected the folder, the shortcut transformation pops us

and disappears and the unidentified folder is created
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9ZZti6Gpv0 (2:25)

[v-echaithra]

Hi @ptmk25 ,

Thank you for sharing the detailed steps and screenshots.
We were able to review the scenario, and based on the behavior you described (where the Transform wizard briefly appears and the file is then placed under Unidentified), this does not appear to be related to permissions or workspace configuration.

Currently, when creating a shortcut at the folder level from SharePoint or OneDrive, Fabric may not consistently infer Excel (.xlsx) files as structured/tabular sources. In such cases, even if the Transform experience is momentarily triggered, the backend may not successfully classify the file. This results in the message: "Unable to identify these objects as tables or views..."
As a result, the file is placed under Unidentified instead of proceeding through the Transform-to-Delta flow.

Recommended approaches

To reliably ingest and structure the data, we suggest the following options:

1. Dataflow Gen2

Connect to SharePoint or OneDrive
Ingest the Excel file
Load the data directly into a Lakehouse table
This is currently the most stable and production-ready approach for this scenario.

2. Notebook-based ingestion

Access the file from the Lakehouse Files section
Use libraries such as pandas or openpyxl to read the .xlsx file
Write the output to a Delta table

This approach provides full control over schema and transformations.

Hope this helps.

[ptmk25]

Hello @v-echaithra, thanks for your reply and I appreciate the workaround and I understand the feature is in preview. The whole point, in our case, was to showcase this new functionality in lieu of the workarounds you listed. Is there no other way to make Fabric recognize the file as an excel? I am guessing this is a bug. 🙂