How to use external sharing in SharePoint and OneDrive in Microsoft 365

 

How to use external sharing in SharePoint and OneDrive in Microsoft 365

SharePoint and OneDrive are powerful collaboration platforms that can be used to share documents, files, and other content with your team members. However, what if you need to share content with people outside of your organization? This is where external sharing comes in.

External sharing lets you share content with people who don't have a Microsoft 365 account. This can be useful for collaborating with partners, vendors, clients, or customers.

There are two ways to use external sharing in SharePoint and OneDrive:

• Guest sharing: This allows you to share a document, file, or site with a specific person outside of your organization. You can control the permissions that the guest has to the shared content.
• Public sharing: This allows you to share a document, file, or site with anyone who has the link. Publicly shared content is accessible to anyone, regardless of whether they have a Microsoft 365 account.

To get started with external sharing, you need to be a Global Administrator or SharePoint Administrator. Once you have the necessary permissions, you can follow these steps to share a document with a guest:

1. Open the document that you want to share.
2. On the Share tab, in the People section, click Share with people outside your organization.
3. In the Add people box, enter the email address of the person you want to share with.
4. To control the permissions that the guest has to the shared content, select the permissions that you want to grant.
5. Click Share.

The guest will receive an email with a link to the shared document. They can click the link to access the document.

To get started with public sharing, you need to be a Global Administrator or SharePoint Administrator. Once you have the necessary permissions, you can follow these steps to share a document publicly:

1. Open the document that you want to share.
2. On the Share tab, in the People section, click Get a link.
3. In the Get a link dialog box, select the Anyone with the link can view option.
4. Click Get a link.

The link to the shared document will be copied to your clipboard. You can paste this link anywhere to share the document with others.

Here are some things to keep in mind when using external sharing:

• You can only share content with people outside of your organization if you have enabled external sharing. To enable external sharing, go to the SharePoint admin center and select Settings > Sharing.
• You can control the permissions that guests have to the shared content. You can grant guests read-only access, edit access, or full control.
• Guests can only access shared content if they have the link. You can distribute the link to guests via email or other means.
• Publicly shared content is accessible to anyone, regardless of whether they have a Microsoft 365 account. Be careful when sharing content publicly, as this could expose sensitive information to unauthorized users.

By following these tips, you can use external sharing to collaborate with people outside of your organization securely.