How to Manage Microsoft 365 External Sharing Settings to Prevent Data Leaks for Australian Small Businesses

Summary

This guide helps you troubleshoot and resolve: How to Manage Microsoft 365 External Sharing Settings to Prevent Data Leaks for Australian Small Businesses. Follow the steps below to fix the issue.

Common Causes

External sharing in Microsoft 365 allows your team to collaborate with clients, suppliers, and partners outside your organisation. However, if left unchecked, it can lead to sensitive business documents being accidentally shared with the wrong people. This guide walks Australian small businesses through managing and auditing external sharing settings in Microsoft 365 to reduce the risk of data leaks.

Configure Organisation-Level External Sharing

1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 admin centre using your administrator account.
2. Navigate to Settings > Org settings > Services.
3. Select SharePoint from the list of services.
4. Review the External sharing level and adjust it to match your organisation's security requirements.
5. Select Save to apply the changes.

Manage Site-Level Sharing Settings

1. In the Microsoft 365 admin centre, expand Admin centres and select SharePoint.
2. In the SharePoint admin centre, select Active sites.
3. Click on the site you want to manage.
4. Select the Sharing tab.
5. Choose the appropriate external sharing level for that specific site.
6. Select Save.

Review and Remove External Users

1. Go to the Microsoft Entra admin centre.
2. Select Users > All users.
3. Filter by User type and select Guest to see all external collaborators.
4. Select a guest user to review their access and group memberships.
5. If the user no longer requires access, select Delete or remove them from specific SharePoint sites and Microsoft Teams.

Troubleshooting

External Sharing Option Is Greyed Out

If you cannot change external sharing settings, verify that your account has Global Administrator or SharePoint Administrator rights.

Users Cannot Share Files Externally

Check that external sharing is enabled at both the organisation level and the individual site level. Organisation settings act as the ceiling; site settings can be more restrictive but never more permissive than the organisation default.

External Users Cannot Access Shared Content

Ask the recipient to check their junk email folder for the sharing invitation. If they are using a strict corporate email filter, they may need to ask their IT team to allow emails from microsoftonline.com and sharepoint.com.

Disabling external sharing completely may break existing shared links with clients and partners. Communicate any changes to your team and external contacts before applying organisation-wide restrictions.

Regularly auditing your external sharing settings is a simple but effective way to protect your business data. If you need assistance reviewing your Microsoft 365 security configuration, open a support ticket with your IT provider.

Still Having Issues?