OneDrive, a pivotal part of Microsoft 365, is a cloud storage service that allows users to share files with others both within and outside their organization. Efficient managing of these sharing settings is crucial to maintain security, minimize data breaches, and control information flow.
Sharing can be set at different levels, such as an organization level, a site level, or an individual level. However, it’s important to be aware that files can’t be shared more broadly than the most restrictive setting. Meaning, if your organization settings prohibit sharing with external users, you can’t enable external sharing on individual OneDrive sites.
Configuring OneDrive Sharing Settings
The Office 365 admin center is your go-to tool for managing external sharing settings. Here’s a step-by-step walkthrough to locate and adjust these settings:
- Sign in to your Office 365 admin center as a global or SharePoint admin.
- Go to `Admin centers` > `SharePoint` > `Sharing`.
- Here, you will find the external sharing settings. The available options are:
- `Anyone`: files can be shared with anyone, even if they don’t have an Office 365 account.
- `New and existing guests`: files can be shared with guests, people outside your company who have access.
- `Existing guests only`: files can only be shared with guests who have accessed items shared with them.
- `Only people in your organization`: strictly in-house file sharing. No external sharing is permitted.
Effective Practices for Managing External Sharing
When optimally managing external sharing for OneDrive, consider the following practices:
- Understand Sharing Options: As previously mentioned, OneDrive offers a range of sharing options. Understand each option and their implications to effectively utilize them for your organization.
- Review and Update Sharing Settings Regularly: After initially setting up your OneDrive, remember to revisit the settings to review and update them periodically. This practice ensures your sharing settings align with your changing business needs.
- Use Shareable Links Responsibly: When sharing files with external users through links, ensure they are password protected or have an expiration date. This setup minimizes the risk of unauthorized access.
- Train Your Team: Educate your team on the best practices of file sharing to avoid unnecessary data exposure. Make sure they know how and when to use each of the sharing options.
Relevance to the MS-700 Exam
The MS-700: Managing Microsoft Teams exam tests the candidate’s ability to configure, deploy, and manage Office365 workloads for Microsoft Teams that focus on efficient and effective collaboration and communication in an enterprise environment.
Understanding how to manage OneDrive sharing settings is therefore crucial as it’s an integral part of Microsoft Teams’ functionality. Sharing files securely and efficiently between team members and externally is a fundamental aspect of collaborative work.
In conclusion, managing external file sharing settings for OneDrive is a key skill for anyone looking to pass the MS-700. Understanding and using these settings effectively will ensure secure and efficient collaboration in your organization. Remember, however, that the most secure sharing policy is the one that’s correctly applied and understood by all staff.
Practice Test
True or False: External sharing in OneDrive is turned off by default.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: External sharing is on by default in OneDrive. Administrators have to manually turn it off if desired.
Which of the following settings can be managed in the OneDrive Sharing settings?
- a) Sharing outside your organization
- b) Limiting external sharing by domain
- c) Limiting the rights of external users
- d) All of the above
Answer: d) All of the above
Explanation: All the mentioned settings can be managed in the OneDrive Sharing settings.
True or False: Office 365 group members can be granted access to a file sharing link even if they are not the owner of the link.
- True
- False
Answer: True.
Explanation: The owner of the file can create a sharing link that can give access to Office 365 group members.
Only OneDrive for Business admins can manage external sharing settings. True or False?
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: Only administrators have the permissions to make changes to OneDrive settings.
External sharing in OneDrive can be set up using:
- a) Microsoft Teams admin center
- b) SharePoint admin center
- c) Office 365 admin center
- d) All of the above
Answer: d) All of the above
Explanation: All the above platforms provide the option to set up external sharing in OneDrive.
True or False: Users can share files or folders with people who are not in your organization directory
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: This feature can be set up in the external sharing settings.
What happens if the ‘Allow users to invite and share with authenticated external users’ option is turned on in the OneDrive settings?
- a) It lets users share files with people outside your organization who already have Microsoft accounts
- b) It lets users share files with everyone
- c) It lets users share files with only those who are in your organization
- d) No one is allowed to share files
Answer: a) It lets users share files with people outside your organization who already have Microsoft accounts
Explanation: An authenticated external user means an external user that’s already associated with a Microsoft account.
True or False: ‘Direct’ access type implies that a link can only be used by the specific people you share with.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: The ‘Direct’ link provides specific access to the users you select.
OneDrive only allows files to be shared externally through email invitations. True or False?
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: OneDrive allows sharing through email, generating a link, or sharing directly within the organization.
Who can set expiration dates for guest access to OneDrive shared files/folders?
- a) Admins only
- b) All users
- c) Only the user who shared the file/folder
- d) External users
Answer: a) Admins only
Explanation: The setting to establish expiration dates for shared links can only be implemented by administrators.
What happens if a user tries to share a file with an external user when the ‘Allow sharing only with the external users that already exist in your organization’s directory’ setting is enabled?
- a) The file is shared
- b) Only a link to the file is shared
- c) The user gets an error
- d) The file is shared but the external user won’t be able to access it
Answer: c) The user gets an error.
Explanation: If the administrator has only permitted sharing with existing external users in the directory, an error will appear.
Which of the following can a OneDrive admin do?
- a) Enable/ disable external sharing
- b) Limit external sharing by domain
- c) Control who can share outside your organization
- d) All of the above
Answer: d) All of the above
Explanation: As an administrator, you can control all these settings in managing file sharing for OneDrive users.
True or False: You cannot share a file directly from OneDrive to someone outside of your organization.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: OneDrive external sharing options allow users to share files directly with users outside of the organization.
True or False: New guests to access shared items must sign in or provide a verification code security measure.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: To ensure security, new guests must verify their identity through a sign-in or provide a verification code to access shared items.
True or False: You can’t limit sharing by security group in OneDrive for business.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: As of now, OneDrive for business does not support limiting sharing by security group.
Interview Questions
How can OneDrive users share files externally?
OneDrive users can share files externally by using the ‘Share’ feature and then selecting ‘Anyone with the link can edit’. This generates a link that can be sent to external users, granting them access to the file or folder.
What are the types of external file sharing settings in OneDrive?
The types of external sharing settings in OneDrive include sharing with existing external users, sharing with newly invited external users, sharing with anonymous users, and a direct link sharing option.
How can the file sharing setting be modified for all users in OneDrive?
The admin can modify file sharing settings for all users in the SharePoint admin center. Navigating to the ‘sharing’ selection under policies allows these settings to be adjusted.
How can an organization restrict sharing OneDrive files to specific domains?
On the sharing page in the new SharePoint admin center, there’s an option to only share with certain domains. Just enter the domains into the box under ‘Limit sharing by domain’.
How can users share a file or folder with a specific person outside the organization in OneDrive?
Users can share a file or folder with a specific person outside the organization by selecting the ‘Specific people’ option when sharing and entering the desired e-mail address.
Can OneDrive users see who has accessed a file they’ve shared externally?
Yes, under the ‘Shared’ library in OneDrive, users can select the file and then choose ‘Details’ to see a list of who has accessed the file.
What does the “Allow only users in your organization” sharing option do on OneDrive?
When this setting is applied, only users within the user’s own organization can open or edit the shared links. This prevents external sharing.
How can an admin prevent their OneDrive users from sharing files or folders?
An admin can prevent users from sharing files or folders by visiting the ‘Sharing’ page in the SharePoint admin center and selecting ‘Don’t allow sharing outside your organization’.
Can OneDrive users restrict the permissions of an external user on a shared file?
Yes, OneDrive users can opt to make shared files view-only for external users, restricting their functionality and editing capabilities.
Can shared files be revoked or expired automatically in OneDrive?
Yes, by setting an expiration date for a shareable link, the access will be automatically revoked once the date has passed.
How can an admin audit or monitor the external sharing activities in OneDrive?
Admins can audit or monitor the external sharing activities via the Security & Compliance Center. They can generate audit logs for activities related to sharing and access request activities.
Can specific users in the organization be exempted from the external sharing policy set by admin?
Yes, by creating a security group comprising of those users, the admin can modify the user-level sharing settings within that specific group, overriding the organization-wide external sharing settings.
Is there a way to block downloads of shared files in OneDrive?
Yes, when a user shares a file, the user has the option to block the download of that file by toggling ‘Block download’ button.
How can an admin change the setting to let users share OneDrive files with authenticated external users only?
Admins can navigate to the SharePoint admin center, then to policies, and finally to sharing. From there, they can select ‘Only users in the organization and authenticated external users’.
How can an admin set up notifications to be informed when a file is shared externally?
Admins can use the audit log search in the Security & Compliance Center to generate detailed reports about sharing activity. Setting up an alert policy will send notifications whenever a certain event, such as file sharing, occurs.
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