Sharing Files in OneDrive

Sharing works almost the same in OneDrive as in SharePoint. A user can share a folder or file in OneDrive from the web or from the OneDrive Client.  One difference between the two is that OneDrive allows sharing to external anonymous users with a link by default. 

INFO: For SharePoint files and folders, see Sharing in SharePoint.

Instructions

INFO: If you grant access to a folder then they will have access to all the files below it. 

From the Client

1. Right-click on the file or folder, and select the OneDrive Share from the menu that comes up.

2. To change the sharing option from People in your organization with the link can view, click the > .

3. Select desired sharing option

   • "Anyone with the link", if available, allows anyone who has the link to have access

Note: This is the least secure, so use with care. It is a much more secure practice to share to a specific external email. Although once you have done so you will also want to send the link to them in a regular email, since share emails generally end up marked as spam by non-Exchange email services.

Tip: It is best practice to either set a password and/or an expiration date for a link when sharing using "Anyone with the link". The option to do so is at the bottom of the share settings window after selecting "Anyone with the link".

• "People in your organization with the link", allows anyone with a maine.edu account with the link to access the file or folder.

• "People with existing Access" will provide a link that will provide whatever access the person already had.

  • TIP: This is handy if you know the person has some sort of access to the file, but you are not sure what they are and you want to help them quickly get to the file (Like when you are in a virtual meeting discussing a file and people in the meeting might have different levels of access.)

• Specific people allows you to list people by email to grant them access.

  • TIP: Select the person by email and not just by name to ensure access is given to the correct person.

• "Sharing with Specific People" is the most secure way to share and it also allows sharing to external emails.

• If you want to grant rights to edit, which includes deletion rights (except for the top-level folder), then check the box for Allow editing.

4. Once settings are as desired, click Apply.

Request a File (upload-only)

If you only want users to upload a file, then you can use OneDrive's "Request a file" feature. See Microsoft's Documentation on Create a File Request.

From the Browser

1. From office.com, in OneDrive, click the curved arrow icon to the right of the file to share.

• Then the process is the same as from the OneDrive client.

You can also refer to Microsoft's documentation on sharing in OneDrive

Note: Generally, share invite emails end up in the SPAM folder in gmail, so it is recommended to let the people you are sharing with know that they should look for the email and if they don't see it, to check their spam folder or to just send them a link in a regular email.

For more on managing permissions to your files in OneDrive see Microsoft's documentation Stop sharing OneDrive or SharePoint files or folders, or change permissions.

Stop Sharing in OneDrive

See Microsoft's documentation for removing access in OneDrive

Environment

OneDrive Client

OneDrive online