Changes to External Sharing in OneDrive & SharePoint

External sharing in Microsoft 365 SharePoint and OneDrive allows users to share content with people inside and outside of OU. As of July 2026, Microsoft has moved away from link-based access to a more secure identity-based access model. Every external person you share files with will need to have a Microsoft account on file under their e-mail address before they can access the shared file.

• Sharing with an External User (whose e-mail is already used with a Microsoft Account)
• Sharing with an External User (whose e-mail is not a Microsoft Account or is new guest to OU collaboration)
• Troubleshooting

Sharing with an External User (whose e-mail is already used with a Microsoft Account)

If the user has an existing Microsoft account under their e-mail address or if they have accepted a OU collaboration invitation previously to create a Microsoft account, they will be able to automatically open your Share link if they are signed in to the Microsoft account in question.

If they do not have such an account, their attempt to sign in with their e-mail address will begin the process to create a new Microsoft account using their email address. Note that Microsoft accounts can use any e-mail address, so @gmail.com, @yahoo.com, etc.. can be used as the user account name for this Microsoft account. See instructions for that below.

Sharing with an External User (whose e-mail is not a Microsoft Account or is new guest to OU collaboration)

1. If you wish to share a file with an individual external to OU who does not have an OU account, you may still do so. To begin, select the Share option in SharePoint or OneDrive to launch the share window. 
2. In the share target window, enter the external e-mail address of the individual in question. 
3. You should now receive a confirmation message. 
4. These external users may receive two e-mails:
   1. The first e-mail is an invitation to collaborate with the University of Oklahoma. They will receive this e-mail only if they have not collaborated with OU since the recent change.
      1. In this e-mail the user will need to click the option to Accept invitation. 
      2. This will open a Microsoft Sign In page. 
      3. If the account was not a Microsoft Account, they will receive a message that the address could not be found. The user will now need to create a Microsoft Account using the e-mail address by clicking the "New to Microsoft? Create an account" link found on that Sign In page.
      4. The user will now need to go through the process of creating a Microsoft account using their e-mail address by following the on screen prompts. This may include receiving a verification e-mail from Microsoft with a security code to input, followed by entering details for the new Microsoft account.
      5. When complete, the user will be prompted to Accept the permissions request. This will create a user account in the OU domain for their external e-mail address. 
      6. With this new Microsoft account, the user should be in the system and will not receive further collaboration e-mails when files are shared to their address.
   2. The second e-mail is a message stating that the OU user has shared a file with the external individual, it will include link to the original shared file. The user may click this link to view the shared file, if they are not currently signed in with the Microsoft account under their e-mail address, they will be prompted to do so now. 

Troubleshooting

If your share guest has issues with their account or is unable to access your shared file, you may submit a help request using our SharePoint service page and a technician will reach out to assist.