How to set up and manage Microsoft Teams Guest Access for external clients

Summary

This guide helps you troubleshoot and resolve: How to set up and manage Microsoft Teams Guest Access for external clients. Follow the steps below to fix the issue.

Common Causes

Microsoft Teams allows you to collaborate with people outside your organisation, such as external clients, contractors, or vendors. By using Guest Access, you can invite these individuals to specific teams or channels, allowing them to chat, share files, and join meetings without granting them access to your entire internal company directory or sensitive data.

Prerequisites for Guest Access

Before you can invite external users, Guest Access must be enabled at the tenant level by your Microsoft 365 Global Administrator. If you find that you cannot add external users, please Open a Ticket to have our team verify your organisation's settings.

How to Invite an External Guest

Adding a Guest to a Team

1. Open Microsoft Teams and select the Teams icon from the left-hand sidebar.
2. Locate the team you wish to add the guest to, click the More options (...) icon next to the team name, and select Add member.
3. Enter the guest's full email address in the Invite someone to your team as a guest field.
4. Click Add and then select Close.
5. The guest will receive an email invitation. They must accept this invitation to gain access to the team.

Adding a Guest to a Specific Channel (Shared Channels)

If you only want a client to see one specific project channel rather than the entire team, use a Shared Channel:

1. Select the More options (...) icon next to the specific channel name.
2. Select Add members.
3. Type the external email address and select the user from the dropdown.
4. Click Add.

Managing Guest Permissions and Access

Removing a Guest User

1. Go to the Teams tab and select the team containing the guest.
2. Click the More options (...) icon and select Manage team.
3. Under the Members & guests section, locate the guest user.
4. Click the X icon next to their name to remove them from the team immediately.

Analysing Guest Activity

To ensure your organisation remains secure, we recommend periodically reviewing your guest list. You can see who is active and which external parties have access to your data via the Manage team menu described above.

Troubleshooting Common Guest Issues

Guest cannot sign in or access the team

• Account Mismatch: Ensure the guest is signing in with the exact email address you used for the invitation.
• Tenant Switching: Guests must often switch their "Organisation" in Teams. In the top right corner of the Teams app, next to their profile picture, they should see a dropdown menu to switch from their own company to your organisation.
• Licensing: Guests do not require a paid Microsoft 365 licence from your company to access your teams.

Guest cannot share files

If a guest is unable to upload documents, your organisation's SharePoint settings may be restricting external uploads. This is a security configuration that can be adjusted by your administrator. If this is hindering your workflow, please Open a Ticket.

Communication Failures

If your guest is having trouble with general communication or if you are experiencing wider connectivity issues with your Microsoft suite, you may find our guide on Email not sending or receiving helpful for diagnosing DNS or account-level blocks.

Still Having Issues?