Download and Access Issues for External Users with SharePoint “Anyone” link sharing option.

Hi All,

We are looking for help resolving a recurring issue with file sharing in SharePoint. All files and folders we share with external customers use the “Anyone” sharing link option (Anyone with the link can access). Despite this, we regularly face these problems:

• Customers can view files but cannot always download them from the browser (for example, using the "Create a Copy”, “Download a Copy" or "Save as" option in the PowerPoint files).
• Sometimes, sharing the parent folder (containing the file) link allows the external user to download, even though the file link itself does not.
• The problem is intermittent and not linked to settings or policies—sometimes everything works, sometimes it does not, even when we generate new links.
• No restrictive site, library, or organizational policies are applied; “Block download” is not set and full link access is confirmed.
• Using a private/incognito tab sometimes enables the link to work when it otherwise fails in a normal browser session, but not always.

We want to understand why this happens and whether there is an underlying issue, known bug, or additional configuration we should review that could make “Anyone” links unpredictable for downloads with external users.

Has anyone else experienced similar issues? If so, how did you resolve it, or are you still searching for answers?
We’d really appreciate hearing your experiences and suggestions!

Thank you for your advice and support!