Sharing with External Guests using Microsoft 365 SharePoint or OneDrive

Issue/Question

• Can I share SharePoint and OneDrive files with people outside of OSU?
• How do I share SharePoint and OneDrive files files with external guests?
• Why do people outside of OSU need verification codes or Microsoft accounts to access files I shared via SharePoint or OneDrive?

Environment

• Oregon State University
• External
• Microsoft 365
• SharePoint
• OneDrive 

Explanation

Sharing with external guest with Microsoft 365, SharePoint and OneDrive, has changed to require guest verification as of September 25, 2023. As part of our continual efforts to ensure that Oregon State University and its community are protected from cyber threats, default settings for how information hosted on SharePoint and OneDrive can be shared with guests that are external to OSU has been changed.

SharePoint files can still be shared with guests external to Oregon State University. This change has no impact on how SharePoint files are shared with others who are internal to the university.

For guests to access files shared from Oregon State University, the guest will either need to enter a verification code or be signed in to the same Microsoft account to which the sharing invitation was sent. They also will not have permissions to share any items that they do not own.

Resolution

Method 1

1. When you share with people outside the organization, an invitation is sent to the person in email, which contains a link to the shared item.

2. External guests must be signed in to their Microsoft account or provide a verification code to be able to access any shared files. They must also be signed in to the account that the sharing invitation was sent to. 

3. External guests are no longer be able to share any files within SharePoint that they do not own.

4. Guest access to a SharePoint site or OneDrive will expire after 60 days. Access may be granted again at that time if needed.

5. Guests who use a verification code will be asked to reauthenticate after 30 days.

6. The default permission granted when sharing a file will be changed from “Edit” to “View”; permissions to edit a document will need to be granted.

Assistance

Additional information on sharing with Microsoft 365 is available from Microsoft, please see Share SharePoint files or folders

For assistance, contact the Service Desk.

If there is a specific "request" form add that as link here.