How To Enable External Sharing In Sharepoint?
Are you looking for a way to share and collaborate with external users outside of your organization but are unsure how to enable external sharing in SharePoint? With the help of this guide, you will learn how to enable external sharing in SharePoint, allowing you and your team to collaborate with external users without compromising data security. So, let’s get started!
External Sharing in SharePoint enables users to share documents and sites with people outside the organization. To enable external sharing, the administrator needs to:
- Navigate to the SharePoint Admin Center
- Under Sharing, click External Sharing
- Select one of the following external sharing options: New and existing guests, Existing guests only, or Off
- Click Save
How to Enable External Sharing in SharePoint?
External Sharing allows users to securely collaborate with people outside their organization. It is an important feature of SharePoint that lets users securely share documents and other content with anyone outside their organization, regardless of their location. SharePoint provides various levels of external sharing, depending on the type of content being shared and the type of external users.
Understanding External Sharing
External Sharing can be enabled in SharePoint in two ways: through the SharePoint Online Admin Center, or through the SharePoint PowerShell. SharePoint Online Admin Center provides the easiest way to enable external sharing. However, if you need more control over external sharing, you can use the SharePoint PowerShell. Both methods are explained in detail below.
Enabling External Sharing Through the SharePoint Online Admin Center
The SharePoint Online Admin Center is a central hub for managing SharePoint Online sites. It is the easiest way to enable external sharing in SharePoint. To enable external sharing, follow these steps:
Step 1: Log in to the SharePoint Online Admin Center
Log in to the SharePoint Online Admin Center using your global administrator credentials. Once you are logged in, you will be able to see the list of all the sites in the SharePoint Online environment.
Step 2: Select a Site
Select the site that you want to enable external sharing for. You can select multiple sites at once if needed.
Step 3: Configure External Sharing Settings
Once you have selected a site, click on the “Sharing” tab. On this page, you will be able to configure the external sharing settings for the selected site. You can choose to enable external sharing for all users, or limit it to specific users or groups.
Step 4: Save Changes
Once you have configured the external sharing settings, click on the “Save” button to apply the changes. You will then be able to see the changes reflected in the selected site.
Configuring External Sharing Through SharePoint PowerShell
SharePoint PowerShell is a powerful command-line tool that allows you to manage SharePoint environments. It provides more control over external sharing than the SharePoint Online Admin Center. To enable external sharing through PowerShell, follow these steps:
Step 1: Connect to SharePoint Online
Launch the SharePoint Online Management Shell and connect to the SharePoint Online environment. To do this, run the following command: Connect-SPOService -Url
Step 2: Enable External Sharing
Once you are connected to SharePoint Online, run the following command to enable external sharing: Set-SPOSite -Identity
Step 3: Configure External Sharing Settings
Once external sharing is enabled, you can configure the external sharing settings for the selected site. To do this, run the following command: Set-SPOSite -Identity
The “Permission Level” can be set to “View”, “Edit” or “Full Control”. This will determine the level of access external users have to the selected site.
Step 4: Save Changes
Once you have configured the external sharing settings, run the following command to save the changes: Set-SPOSite -Identity
Configuring External Users Access
Once external sharing is enabled, you will need to configure external users access to the selected site. To do this, you will need to go to the “User Permissions” page of the selected site and add the external users as site members. You can assign different permission levels to each external user, depending on their needs.
Troubleshooting External Sharing
If you are having issues with external sharing, there are a few things you can do to troubleshoot. First, make sure that the external users have been added to the selected site as members. Also, make sure that their permissions are set correctly. If the issue persists, contact Microsoft support for additional help.
External Sharing Best Practices
When enabling external sharing in SharePoint, it is important to keep security in mind. External users should only be given access to the content that is absolutely necessary for them to complete their tasks. Also, it is important to keep track of external users and remove them when they are no longer needed. Finally, make sure that all external users have been provided with the necessary training and instruction on how to use the SharePoint environment.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is External Sharing?
External Sharing is a feature in SharePoint that allows users to share documents, sites, and other content with people outside of their organization. This feature can be enabled or disabled to control who can share content.
How to Enable External Sharing in Sharepoint?
To enable external sharing in Sharepoint, the administrator must first log in to the Sharepoint Admin Center. From there, they can click on the “Sharing” option in the left-hand navigation bar. On the Sharing page, they can enable external sharing by clicking the “Allow external users who accept sharing invitations and sign in as authenticated users” checkbox. After that, they can click the “Save” button to save the changes.
How to Set Policies for External Sharing?
To set policies for external sharing in Sharepoint, the administrator can go to the “Site Settings” page in the Sharepoint Admin Center. On the “Site Settings” page, they can click on the “External Sharing” option in the left-hand navigation bar. On the external sharing page, they can set policies such as who can share content and who can view content. After setting the policies, they can click the “Save” button to save the changes.
How to Invite External Users to Sharepoint?
To invite external users to Sharepoint, the administrator must first log in to the Sharepoint Admin Center. From there, they can click on the “Sharing” option in the left-hand navigation bar. On the Sharing page, they can click the “Invite People” button. On the invite page, they can enter the email address of the external user and click the “Send Invite” button. After that, the external user will receive an email with a link to access the content.
What is the Difference Between Internal and External Sharing?
The primary difference between internal and external sharing is the scope of the sharing. Internal sharing is limited to people within the organization, while external sharing can be extended to people outside the organization. Internal sharing is typically done using a share link, while external sharing is done using an invite, which requires the external user to accept the invite before they can access the content.
In conclusion, enabling external sharing in SharePoint is a great way to collaborate with people outside of your organization. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can easily enable external sharing and benefit from the powerful collaboration capabilities of SharePoint. With external sharing enabled, you can access and manage documents, lists, and sites with ease, making your collaboration efforts more efficient and effective.
