Forum Discussion
OneDrive Sharing UI "breaking" "Shared with Me" functionality
Hi, so I'm not quite sure when the Sharing UI in OneDrive for Business (web) changed, but a couple of weeks ago it looked different.
What I'm specifically talking about is this usage scenario:
- Users right clicks folder in his/her OneDrive and clicks "Share"
- right then pops up a little different sharing dialog than previously
- when you look closely you'll see the text "anyone with this link can edit this item" below the File/Foldername and right above the User entry field
- Users enters Names/E-Mail of specific people
- User then clicks share
- done
Previously what happend is, that those users would get permission to the file/folder and also see this in their own OneDrive under "Shared with Me", since they've received explicit permission
But since the UI changed sometime in the last couple of weeks this is what happens
- the sharing dialog defaults to the "Get a Link" functionality, which btw is still accessible in the right click menu, but looks a little different as well than previously
- a links is created and that link is sent to the shared users
- BUT
- no explicit permissions are granted anymore
- instead a link is created with a default expiration of 180 days
- and those Users no longer see the shared file/folder in their "Shared with Me" OneDrive UI
To change this, a user has to do the following
- in the new Sharing UI click that tiny text hyperlink "anyone with this link can edit this item"
- a new "Permissions" side pane flys open and in the available dropdown menu select "Only people in the To: line" instead of "Anyone with this link"
- Click OK
- Click Share
Can someone point out when this change happend, or where it was mentioned? I usually follow all the changes very closely, but this one I might have missed.
Also, what will happen to the "shared with me" functionality, because I can pretty much guarantee that nobody will effectively using it anymore, since no new shared files/folder will show up there as long as the sharing ui works like it does now.
I'm on full tenant first release btw.
Thanks,
Ivan
Glad to hear it Guy Johnson! Sorry we had to go through so much trial and error to figure this out. I'm going to send a copy of this thread to the team so we can make sure future iterations take all of this into account. If you have any other questions, let me know! Thanks!
This is new for me too!
BTW, is still there the option to get an anonymous link? How?
EDIT: Well, it appears that the default sharing option for a file ("anyone with this link can edit...") sends indeed an anonymous link with edit permissions to the recipient. Maybe this is the answer to people complaining that recipients out from the organization, and not with an MS Acoount or an O365 Account, don't like to be forced to signin for an MSA. Anyway, to send as default an anonymous link with edit permissions appears a bit too "strong" for me...
- StephenRice
Microsoft
Hi all,
We did release a message center announcement on the new sharing dialog in ODB but it was a month or two back so it has probably expired at this point. The very short version though is that our previous model combined two separate concepts (how do I want to share? and how do I inform the recipient of their access?) in a very weird way. If you wanted to e-mail the recipient, you could only permission the user directly. If you wanted to copy a link, you could only copy anonymous or company shareable links.
In the new sharing dialog, the user now makes a deliberate choice between e-mail and copy, and then another choice on the type of link (anonymous, people in my org or permissioning) to share. We've gotten a lot of good feedback on the sharing dialog and we are constantly looking for ways to improve.
In the meantime, we have a feature in the SharePoint admin center that lets the admin choose the "default link" in the sharing dialogue (either anonymous access, internal or direct/restricted). This chooses the default link that is selected but users can still change if needed.
Hope this helps! Thanks!
Stephen Rice
OneDrive Program Manager
Hi Stephen,
Thanks for the input, I can't remember the MC message to be honest. I have messages dating back to August in the MC, but not the one about the Sharing Dialog. Do messages have a unified expiration date, or are they different for every message?
StephenRice wrote:In the new sharing dialog, the user now makes a deliberate choice between e-mail and copy, and then another choice on the type of link (anonymous, people in my org or permissioning) to share. We've gotten a lot of good feedback on the sharing dialog and we are constantly looking for ways to improve.
Here's a screenshot of this new sharing dialog, and I'm not sure what you mean by "user is making a deliberate choice".
I can pretty much assume, most of the users will enter the recipients mail address, add a message and hit "Share" without deliberately thinking about how this file/folder is shared. Being the IT-Admin and an O365 enthusiast, even I've done it and just assumed this worked as before and only looked a little different.
It would be great if you would move the sidepane controls, that opens upon clicking that blue text link, to the sharing dialog itself, since there isn't much going on in the sidepane, that wouldn't fit in the dialog itself. This blue text link, looks more like it would link to an office.com information page about sharing itelf, rather than to additional controls. Or add an edit icon (pencil) next to it.
Thank you for the workaround with the defautl sharing experience, though I would suggest to update the wording on this. I wouldn't have selected this option on my own, because I assumed "Direct - only people who have permission" means that the link to file will shared, but you can only access it, if you already have permission for it.
