How to Set Up External Sharing in SharePoint Online?

In today’s interconnected world, organizations rely on cloud platforms like SharePoint Online to store and collaborate on documents. SharePoint provides a secure space for internal communication, but when working with external parties such as contractors or clients, external sharing becomes essential. This feature allows secure content sharing outside the organization, but it must be configured properly to ensure security and compliance. In this guide, we'll walk you through the setup, configuration, and best practices for enabling external sharing in SharePoint Online securely and effectively.

What is External Sharing in SharePoint Online?

External sharing refers to the ability to share SharePoint Online content with users outside your organization. These users may include customers, vendors, or other external collaborators who do not have access to your internal systems or Microsoft 365 accounts. SharePoint Online allows different levels of access depending on your sharing settings—ranging from granting view-only access to specific users to fully editable access to files and folders.

This feature is an important tool for organizations that need to collaborate with external parties while ensuring sensitive internal information remains protected. However, enabling external sharing should be approached with care and consideration of security, compliance, and data integrity.

Our other article - SharePoint Document Management Best Practices

Key Benefits of External Sharing in SharePoint Online!

Before diving into how to set up external sharing, it’s essential to understand its advantages:

1. Improved Collaboration: External sharing enables secure collaboration with clients, contractors, and vendors, especially for global projects.
2. Increased Productivity: External users can access and contribute to documents within SharePoint Online, reducing reliance on other tools.
3. Control and Flexibility: SharePoint allows admins to manage what content is shared externally, ensuring data protection while enhancing collaboration.
4. Scalability: External sharing helps organizations scale by working with external users without managing additional accounts.

Considerations Before Enabling External Sharing!

While external sharing offers many benefits, it's important to evaluate the potential risks and considerations:

• Security: External sharing opens the door for data to be accessed by individuals outside your organization. This makes it essential to establish strong security protocols to prevent unauthorized access.
• Compliance: For organizations in regulated industries, external sharing must comply with data protection and privacy regulations. This includes understanding the types of data that can be shared externally and implementing safeguards accordingly.
• Audit and Monitoring: Once external sharing is enabled, it’s important to track and monitor external users’ access and activity. SharePoint provides tools for auditing and reporting to help you maintain oversight.
• User Training: Ensure that internal users are properly trained on how to securely share content externally and understand the risks associated with sharing sensitive data.

Setting Up External Sharing in SharePoint Online!

Now that we’ve covered the benefits and considerations, let’s walk through the steps involved in setting up external sharing in SharePoint Online. The process involves configuring settings at multiple levels, including the tenant, individual sites, and document libraries.

Enable External Sharing at the Tenant Level

The first step to enabling external sharing in SharePoint Online is to configure the settings at the tenant level. This allows external sharing across the entire SharePoint environment, though it can be further restricted for individual sites.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Open the Microsoft 365 Admin Center and sign in as an administrator.
2. From the left-hand pane, select Admin Centers, then click on SharePoint to open the SharePoint Admin Center.
3. In the SharePoint Admin Center, select Sharing under the Policies section.
4. You’ll be presented with several external sharing options:Anyone: Share content with anyone, including unauthenticated users.New and existing guests: Share content with external users who have been invited.Existing guests: Limit sharing to users who have been invited and already have access to your directory.Only people in your organization: Disable external sharing entirely.
5. Choose the option that aligns with your organization’s sharing policy, and click Save to apply the changes.

By enabling external sharing at the tenant level, all SharePoint sites and content will follow the set sharing policies unless overridden by individual site settings.

Configure External Sharing for Specific Sites

Now that external sharing is enabled at the tenant level, it’s time to configure sharing settings for specific SharePoint sites. Not all sites require the same level of external sharing, and SharePoint allows you to customize these settings per site.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. In the SharePoint Admin Center, navigate to Active Sites.
2. Select the site for which you want to configure external sharing settings.
3. In the Sharing section of the site’s settings, click Edit.
4. Choose one of the following sharing options:Anyone: Allows external sharing with no authentication required.New and existing guests: Limits sharing to only users who are invited by email.Existing guests: Only share with users already in your organization’s directory.Only people in your organization: Disables external sharing for that site.
5. Click Save to confirm your settings.

This configuration ensures that external sharing is applied to the correct SharePoint sites based on their sensitivity.

Configure External Sharing for Libraries and Folders

For even more granular control, SharePoint allows you to configure external sharing on the document library or folder level. This allows organizations to share certain documents or folders with external users while keeping other content private.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Go to the SharePoint site containing the document library or folder.
2. Click the Settings gear icon and select Library settings.
3. Under Permissions and Management, click Permissions for this document library.
4. Click Stop Inheriting Permissions if the library is inheriting permissions from the site.
5. In Advanced Settings, select the desired external sharing option.
6. Click Save to apply the changes.

By controlling external sharing at the document library or folder level, you can fine-tune which files and folders are accessible to external users.

Sharing Files and Folders with External Users

After configuring external sharing, you can begin sharing individual files or folders with external users. Here’s how you can do it:

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Navigate to the file or folder you want to share in your SharePoint library.
2. Click on the Share button.
3. Enter the email address of the external user you wish to share with.
4. Choose the level of access (view or edit) you want to grant the external user.
5. Click Send to share the content.

External users will receive an email with a link to the shared document or folder.

Managing External Users

Once external sharing is enabled, it’s essential to track and manage the external users who have been granted access to content. SharePoint provides administrators with the ability to view and manage these users.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. In the SharePoint Admin Center, go to External Sharing.
2. Under Manage external sharing, select View external sharing activity.
3. From here, you can review which external users have access to content and revoke access if necessary.

This is crucial for ensuring that external sharing stays in line with your organization's data governance policies.

What's Next?

In scenarios where organizations need to collaborate with external users, the need for efficient data management and sharing often extends beyond the simple configuration of external sharing settings. For example, imagine an organization that is undergoing a merger and needs to migrate large volumes of data between its SharePoint Online tenants. This migration involves moving critical documents and files while ensuring that external sharing permissions are maintained securely during the transition.

Here, a robust solution like SysTools SharePoint Migration Tool comes into play. This tool provides an automated and secure way to move data between SharePoint Online tenants without compromising security. It ensures that all external sharing settings are preserved during the migration process, so there is no disruption to ongoing collaborations with clients, contractors, or vendors.

By using this, organizations can seamlessly transfer content while maintaining full control over which files and folders are shared externally. The solution also supports selective migration, allowing administrators to choose specific content to be transferred, which reduces the risk of over-sharing or exposing sensitive information.

Best Practices for External Sharing

• Limit Sharing to Specific Users: Rather than enabling broad sharing options, always opt for sharing with specific individuals who need access to the content.
• Review Sharing Settings Regularly: As external users change over time, it’s essential to periodically review and update your external sharing settings.
• Use Sensitivity Labels: Apply labels to documents that indicate their sensitivity, restricting external sharing as necessary.

Author's Suggestion!

External sharing in SharePoint Online is a powerful feature that enhances collaboration with external users, but it must be configured carefully to ensure the security of your organization’s data. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can confidently set up external sharing while keeping control over permissions and maintaining a secure environment.

Whether you're managing external users or performing migrations between SharePoint Online tenants, tools like SysTools solution offer secure, automated solutions to streamline the process and ensure the integrity of your data. Always follow best practices and continuously monitor external sharing activity to safeguard your organization’s sensitive information.

Technical FAQs for Setting Up External Sharing in SharePoint Online

1. What are the different types of external sharing options in SharePoint Online?

• Anyone: Allows sharing with anyone who has the link, even without signing in.
• New and Existing Guests: Allows sharing with external users who are invited and require a Microsoft account to access.
• Existing Guests: Only users who already have a guest account in your organization can access shared content.
• Only People in Your Organization: No external sharing is allowed.

2. How can I enable external sharing at the tenant level?

• Navigate to Microsoft 365 Admin Center > Settings > Org Settings > Services.
• Click SharePoint and then select Sharing.
• Choose the appropriate sharing option (Anyone, New and Existing Guests, or Existing Guests) based on your requirements.

3. Can I restrict external sharing for specific SharePoint sites?

Yes, external sharing can be configured at both the tenant level and the individual site collection level. To configure sharing for a specific site:

• Go to SharePoint Admin Center.
• Select the site.
• Under Sharing, choose the appropriate sharing setting (e.g., "Anyone," "New and Existing Guests," etc.).

4. What permissions do I need to enable external sharing?

You must have Global Administrator or SharePoint Administrator permissions to enable or configure external sharing settings for your organization or individual sites.

5. What should I do if a user is having trouble accessing shared content?

• Verify that the external sharing settings for the relevant site are configured correctly.
• Ensure the external user has accepted the invitation and created a Microsoft account if necessary.
• Check the sharing permissions on the file or folder itself to confirm they are properly set.
• Ensure the external user is not blocked by organizational policies.

6. How can I audit external sharing activity?

• You can use the Audit log search in the Microsoft 365 Compliance Center to track activities related to external sharing.
• In the SharePoint Admin Center, navigate to Site Usage to view detailed activity reports for sites and shared documents.

7. Can external users access shared files through mobile apps?

Yes, external users can access shared documents via the SharePoint mobile app or OneDrive mobile app, provided they are signed in with their Microsoft account and have the necessary permissions.

8. How do I manage guest user access to SharePoint content?

• Guest users can be managed in the Azure Active Directory (AAD) portal. Here, you can view, modify, and remove guest user access across the organization.
• To prevent specific users from sharing externally, assign them the Limited Sharing Permissions option.

9. What security measures should I take when enabling external sharing?

• Consider using Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for external users.
• Leverage Conditional Access policies to restrict access based on user location, device compliance, or other factors.
• Apply Sensitivity Labels to documents and restrict external sharing for highly sensitive content.
• Regularly review and update sharing settings to ensure they align with current security policies.

10. Can I limit the external sharing of sensitive documents?

Yes, you can set Sensitivity Labels in Microsoft 365 to classify documents as confidential or sensitive. Labels can prevent external sharing on specific files or folders to ensure they remain within the organization.

11. How can I revoke external access to content after sharing?

• In the SharePoint Admin Center, you can select the document or folder, go to the Manage Access option, and revoke access for specific external users.
• For sites, you can adjust the sharing settings to restrict further external access.

12. Can I use Microsoft Teams with external users for collaboration?

Yes, Microsoft Teams allows external users to collaborate if the SharePoint and OneDrive external sharing settings are enabled. External users can be added as guests to Teams and channels and can access SharePoint content shared within the Teams workspace.

13. What happens if an external sharing link is forwarded to someone else?

If the "Anyone" link type is used, anyone with the link can access the content. To prevent this, consider using the New and Existing Guests or Existing Guests sharing settings, which require the external user to log in with a Microsoft account.

14. Can external sharing be disabled for specific file types?

While SharePoint Online doesn’t offer native support to restrict sharing based on file types, you can configure sharing settings at the document library or folder level, applying restrictions to prevent sharing sensitive file types.