We have a client with strict controls for file sharing. They need to limit external sharing to a specific user group. While investigating the External Sharing settings in Microsoft 365, we encountered a user interface challenge. We wanted to share this experience to help others avoid the same challenge.
Steps for External Sharing
To enable external file sharing in the SharePoint Admin Center, follow these steps:
Open the SharePoint Admin Center: Go to the Microsoft 365 admin center and select SharePoint from the left-hand menu.
Access Sharing Settings: In the SharePoint Admin Center, select Policies and then Sharing.
Configure External Sharing:
Under External sharing, choose the sharing level you want for SharePoint and OneDrive. The options typically include Anyone, New and existing guests, Existing guests only, and Only people in your organization.
Select the appropriate level based on your organization’s needs.
Restrict Sharing to Specific Users:
For more granular control, you can limit sharing to specific users by using security groups or Microsoft Entra (formerly Azure AD) settings.
Ensure that only the users in these groups have the necessary permissions to share externally.
Save Changes: After configuring the settings, make sure to scroll down the page to find the Save button to save your changes.