Forum Discussion
Unable to share externally on Shared Channels
We are unable to share files and folders on shared channels with external users. We get the following message when trying share with an external email address: “Your org doesn't allow sharing wi...
I've just re-read your post and we may be having a slightly different problem. Am I correct that:
1. You have not added the external people to your shared channel, and
2. You are trying to share files / folders out of SharePoint with external users?
If so, because it's a shared channel you won't be able to share with external users unless BOTH you AND the external user's tenant have configured the Azure AD B2B direct connect settings. If the external user's tenant hasn't been configured, then I'd expect what you're seeing, i.e. not finding the external users when trying to add them to the channel.
My issue is slightly different, in that I can add them to the channel, they can access it and join in conversations, but they get a "That didn't work. External Sharing is disabled" error when trying to access / upload files.
1. You have not added the external people to your shared channel, and
2. You are trying to share files / folders out of SharePoint with external users?
If so, because it's a shared channel you won't be able to share with external users unless BOTH you AND the external user's tenant have configured the Azure AD B2B direct connect settings. If the external user's tenant hasn't been configured, then I'd expect what you're seeing, i.e. not finding the external users when trying to add them to the channel.
My issue is slightly different, in that I can add them to the channel, they can access it and join in conversations, but they get a "That didn't work. External Sharing is disabled" error when trying to access / upload files.
Microsoft support confirmed that external users and guests are not yet supported in shared channels unless they have M365 accounts with B2B direct connect configured. That is a huge loss of functionality compared to private and standard channels. We collaborate with tons of external users that have no M365 subscription. We migrated everything to shared channels to help consolidate and organize our teams. But in the process lost the ability to search and share (search currently does not work in shared channels either). It's a huge deal breaker. Microsoft Support has been utterly useless in the process, so we are currently migrating to Google Workspaces. It took Microsoft Support two months to even confirm that sharing with external users is not possible on shared channels. They have no ETA on a fix.
- Thanks for your response. "Microsoft support confirmed that external users and guests are not yet supported in shared channels unless they have M365 accounts with B2B direct connect configured." seem to indicate that as long as you have an M365 account and B2B direct connect is configured, external sharing is possible with files/folders stored in a Shared Channel linked SharePoint Online site. We have both turned on, and I am assuming the other party has to turn it on too. It is a major limitation.
MichaelDelpach do you know if this has been updated/corrected? "Microsoft support confirmed that external users and guests are not yet supported in shared channels unless they have M365 accounts with B2B direct connect configured." When I try to add an external user that is not affiliated with Microsoft I get this:
and I know the e-mail address is correct.
- Hi -
I have the same issue and can't seem to find a work around. Agree this is a huge loss or productivity and a major limiation on an expensive subscription product. Any resolutions?Hi . After much confusion and lots of research, I now get where this is coming from and have it working well across multiple tenants. I wrote a short blog on the subject a while back which may help: Private and Shared Channels in Teams | LinkedIn.
You basically need to ensure external sharing is turned on for the Teams' SharePoint site BEFORE creating any shared channels (if you created shared channels whilst external sharing was turned off you'll need to re-create the shared channels unfortunately).
If external sharing is turned on, you then 'simply' need to configure Azure AD B2B Direct Connect in any tenants whose users need to access a shared channel. This takes 3 minutes and can be done by tenant admins - I usually just jump on a call with the other tenant admins and we set it up together using the following instructions:
Collaborate with external participants in a shared channel | Microsoft Docs
I get why it's built this way, as opposed to external or Guest access where everything is within your own control. With shared channels they effectively sit within both tenants so for security reasons both tenants have to unlock the door.
I hope this helps and you can get the benefits of shared channels soon as they really can transform how organisations can more easily collaborate.
