Forum Discussion
SharePoint - Stop sharing - new behavior or new bug?
It used to be possible for a user with Contribute permission in a library to upload a file, share it, and the stop sharing it.
The result of sharing the file would be that unique permisions then apply to the file. That is, it would no longer inherit permissions from its parent container.
If the user then stopped sharing the file, permisisons would be reset and again inherit permissions.
This behavior has very recently changed. The person with Contribute permission who shared it can no longer stop sharing it (the Stop sharing button is grayed out).
Only someone with Full Control permission can stop sharing it, and if they do, permissions for all members are removed from the fiile except for the site owners group.
A user reported this new behavior to me after accidentally sharing with the wrong person, and being unable to undo their mistake.
Anyone else concur with my understanding of this being a new behavior?
3 Replies
For the accidental share, do not use Stop sharing as the first repair. A site owner should open Manage access on the file, expand Links and Direct access, identify the link or person that was added by mistake, and remove only that entry. That preserves the other intended permissions and avoids the result you observed where nearly everyone disappears.
Afterward, check whether the item should inherit from the library. If it no longer needs any unique permissions, open Advanced permissions for the item and choose Delete unique permissions so the parent library permissions are inherited again. Compare the resulting groups and users with another file in the same folder before closing the incident.
The greyed button can be consistent with the contributor lacking Manage Permissions even though the sharing UI previously let that user create a link. What needs escalation is the asymmetric workflow: a contributor can create a mistaken share but cannot revoke that exact grant. Capture the sharing setting from Site permissions, the contributor's effective permission level, and whether the grant was a sharing link or direct access, then submit those details to Microsoft 365 support. The audit log can confirm who created and removed the link without relying on memory.
I can't say whether this is a deliberate change or a bug, so take this as context rather than a confirmed answer. The standard Contribute permission level doesn't include Manage Permissions, and removing sharing from an item means resetting its unique permissions, which is a Manage Permissions action. So if the Stop sharing button is now greyed out for Contribute users, that would line up with the documented permission levels, even if it used to be more lenient. Things worth checking: 1) Does Manage access on that file still let the sharer remove the one wrong recipient? If not, a site owner can do it from the same panel. 2) In Site settings > Site permissions > Change how members can share, see whether sharing is set to site owners only, or owners and members, since that changes who can share and who can undo it. 3) Test with a second account at Contribute and another at Edit/Member to compare. If it differs from what you saw last month, open a support ticket and check the Message Center for a sharing change notice, because that is the only reliable way to confirm a rollout change. For the accidental-share case, the quickest fix today is a site owner removing the recipient directly.
Yes this is a confirmed change in SharePoint Online behavior that only the file owner or a user with Full Control permissions can stop sharing a file. Users with Contribute permissions can still share, but they no longer have the ability to revoke sharing (“Stop sharing”), which explains why the button is now grayed out.
