How to Enable External Sharing in OneDrive for Business: A Step-By-Step Guide
Summary: In this article, you will learn how to enable external sharing in OneDrive for Business. It is required for the better sharing of the documents and to increase the productivity of the organization. Therefore, this article contains the easy steps you need to perform to set up the same. And also mentioned the best practices for enabling.
Table Of Contents,
With the increasing need for collaboration and file sharing you need to understand how to disable/enable external sharing in OneDrive for Business. It is essential for enabling external sharing and allows users to securely share data outside the organization with individuals. You need to follow the listed steps. It ensures that the data are shared efficiently while maintaining the necessary security. It is helpful to enhance the productivity and security of the organization. Before starting the topic let’s a glance at OneDrive For Business.
However, It’s very easy to activate external sharing in OneDrive for Business. All you have to do is log in to the Admin Centre, go to the “SharePoint” settings, and click on the “Sharing” tab. You can then authorize external sharing. Make sure you set the correct permissions so that the data remains secure. After this process, you can easily share documents and folders with external users to allow them collaboration and access.
Let’s explore the same in detail.
OneDrive for Business: An Overview
A tool used to be designed for collaboration purposes. You can share data within and outside the organization. It allows users to store files and important data within the cloud. You can access your files from any device and from anywhere by using the real-time sharing feature by giving access. You can also recover your permanently deleted file from OneDrive.
Now moving to the topic let’s discuss the ways to enable external sharing.
How to Enable External Sharing in OneDrive for Business?
You need to follow the steps given below for the same.
Configure the External Sharing Settings
Step 1. Firstly, Go to Office.com with your web browser.
Step 2. Sign in to your Microsoft 365 account with your credential IDs.
Step 3. Now open the admin application through the app launcher.
Step 4. Go to the SharePoint admin center and open it.
Step 5. Navigate to the “Policies” and click on the “Sharing” button.
Step 6. Locate the OneDrive slider to “Anyone” or “New and existing guests” according to your preference.
Step 7. To apply changes you need to click on the “Save” button.
Enable Sharing for a Specific User
Using the OneDrive sharing you can enable or disable the data sharing. If you want to change the external sharing setting for a specific user, you need to follow the following steps
Step 1. Log in to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center account as a global admin.
Step 2. Select the Users and then Navigate to Active Users from the left panel.
Step 3. A list of users appears, choose the User for whom you want to change the external sharing setting.
Step 4. Click on the OneDrive tab, then under sharing, Select “Manage external sharing”.
Step 5. The checkbox will appear with different sharing levels.
Step 6. Now choose the permission you need to assign to the user.
Step 7. Click on the “Save”.
This is the first way that you want to perform to enable the sharing. And then another way is by making use of a power shell.
With the help of External sharing in OneDrive for Business, you can collaborate easily. If you want to collaborate with people outside the organization, use External Sharing. You can share files, folders, or Lists by enabling external sharing. After learning about how to enable external sharing in OneDrive for business? Now let’s know how it works.
How External Sharing in OneDrive for Business Works?
You need to create a sharing link When you want to share a file or folder with someone outside your organization. Giving permission to the link, including view-only, edit, or full control. Also, you can change the sharing access anytime. Therefore, the recipient can no longer view the content. you can enable expiration dates for security and also block the downloading for the recipient. Additionally, a receiver without a Microsoft 365 account can access the shared data. OneDrive and SharePoint send a one-time passcode to the user on their email address for identification.
For access, the user can enter the code and open the file. However, the link only works for the enabled receiver. You cannot forward the links to others. Moreover, the User (recipient) with the Microsoft 365 account can log in to their account and request permission. Users can access data with a passcode also where login is not required.
Read More: Learn How to Access Files on OneDrive from Another Computer
Best Practices for External Sharing
However, enabling external sharing in OneDrive for business is quite easy. But you need to follow some best practices while performing the same.
- Limit the sharing – Give access only to the appropriate user otherwise cases of data loss will arise. Avoid sharing with everyone in the organization.
- Protected links – Make use of passcode or verification steps to protect the files. It helps to add an extra layer of security and make sure only the recipient with the key can access it.
- Use expiration of access – Make sure that you use expiration which allows access to a limited period.
- Check external sharing settings – To avoid access by unauthorized users, make a habit of checking the external sharing settings regularly. If found any unnecessary user you can remove it.
As OneDrive for Business is great for collaboration, but it doesn’t come with enough control. You can’t choose who sees what, and you can’t track who has accessed the information either. This makes it tough to follow all those privacy rules. Therefore, you make use of any automated reliable tool that migrates your data from the One user’s OneDrive to (recipient) another user’s OneDrive.
One of the tools is the Migrator Wizard OneDrive Migrator Tool, designed for copying the data from the source to the destination.
This tool comes with these specific features.
- You can perform a single-user or multiple-account migration through this tool.
- Option to Re-run migration for the skipped items.
- The tool has a Stop and Start which allows users to pause and resume the process based on needs.
- It comes with a feature that is used for account-based priority migration.
Bringing to the End
In this context, we will discuss how to enable external sharing in OneDrive for business. It’s a powerful tool for collaboration, but it’s important to follow the enabling, working steps, and the best practices without any troubleshooting. It helps to ensure the security and privacy concerns of the organization. Moreover, you can easily enable the sharing externally. Also, you can start sharing files with external users immediately by following the steps mentioned.
Commonly Asked Queries
Q 1: What to do if an external user requests the access?
Ans: You will receive an email notification when an external user requests access. It’s up to you to approve or deny requests.
Q 2: Can all users perform external sharing?
Ans: No, only admins can manage external sharing settings. Users get access through admin.
Q 3: Can I disable external sharing in OneDrive for Business after use?
Ans: Yes, you can easily disable external sharing from the Admin Center of Office 365. You just need to go to “SharePoint” settings and make changes on the “Sharing” tab.
Q 4: Is any extra license required for external sharing?
Ans: No, external sharing feature is available with OneDrive for Business subscription. Therefore, there is no need to buy an extra license to enable external sharing in OneDrive for Business.