Group Policy Desktop Shortcut Error 80070002

I was getting an error code 80070002 when trying to add a desktop shortcut to a network share using Group Policy.

All my other shortcuts utilised a network drive mapping (eg “k:\”), but this was the first time I had tried to use a UNC Path (eg \\myservername\mysharename\). Since those original shortcuts were working without issue, I assumed I was setting up the GPO incorrectly.

Here is my GPO:

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As it turns out, the problem lies within the configuration of the share itself. Most specifically, the permissions on the sharing tab.

The solution was to make sure that “Authenticated Users” (Full Control) appears on the Advance Sharing Permissions for the Folder Share. Don’t worry about adding “Full Control” permissions on the share, since the actual permissions are controlled by the security settings on the folder itself.

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I think the reasoning behind this requirement is that the “Authenticated Users” group contains domain computers in addition to domain users. This allows the GPO service on the workstation to see the share (and hence configure the shortcut).