Forum Discussion
Sharing Folders Issue
Hi
I have been trying to get my head around things, and had a bit of help but now I am stuck.
I'm involved with a charity and we use the cloud to share essential information with volunteers. Our previous system, which closed down, allowed us to share files / folders without people having an account. However when I tried to share a folder with one of my test email addresses, it wants me to create a microsoft account, with authenticator. Now while I fully understand the implications of security, the share is literally one folder which they can't edit anyway. Is there any way around this? It's going to cause grief and I believe will put people off.
I just want to be able to share a folder that people can access via the link.
Thank you for your help.
1 Reply
You’ve run into a change in how Microsoft handles OneDrive / SharePoint sharing. By default, when you try to share with a specific email address, Microsoft assumes you want to enforce identity verification (so it asks the recipient to log in with a Microsoft account).
But there is a way to allow access without an account — it just depends on how your OneDrive is set up:
OneDrive Personal (free or with Microsoft 365 Home/Family)
- You always have the option to share with “Anyone with the link”.
- No Microsoft account is required for recipients.
- You can restrict:
View only vs. Edit.
Expiration date for the link.
Password protection (optional).
- This works out of the box — you don’t need an admin.
OneDrive for Business (part of Microsoft 365 Business, Education, or Nonprofit)
- Sharing is controlled by your organization’s SharePoint / OneDrive admin policies.
- Options you might see:
Anyone with the link → works like OneDrive Personal, but only if the admin has enabled it.
People in your organization → requires sign-in with your charity’s Microsoft account.
Specific people → can require the recipient to sign in or (if enabled) use a one-time passcode sent to their email.
- If “Anyone with the link” is missing, it means the admin has disabled anonymous sharing.
If you’re using OneDrive Personal/Home → you should be able to generate a no-login link right now.
If you’re using OneDrive Business/Charity tenant → whether you can share without requiring a Microsoft account depends on admin settings.
My answers are voluntary and without guarantee!
Hope this will help you.
