External user access to Groups issues

[Carol DeMuth]

I am having trouble finding a solution to a problem with an external user.

One of our internal users previously had a OneDrive folder she was sharing, but some problems started popping up with external users losing access.  We decided to migrate the files to a Group.  We created the Group and sent invitations to all the external users who previously had access to the OneDrive folder.  All but one were successful in accessing the group documents.

One external user gets the email asking them to submit a request to the group owner for access.  The link takes her to the login screen.  I made myself the owner of this group and I do not get an email asking me to grant access.  When she attempts to log in, she gets the message that the user id is not recognized.  There is no link to sign in with a different account (I have done this before - using the same credentials and it worked).  The only link is for “Having trouble accessing your account?”  When following the steps from that link, it gives the “user id is not recognized” message.

Troubleshooting attempts:

1. I deleted her Office 365 account from the Admin Center User portal. Sent a new invite, but get the same result.  I could not see her in the Group at that point. Checked on her username (her email from her work with xxxxx@xxxx.org) I went to the Microsoft log in page and see there is a “Microsoft Live” account.  I had her verify that she can log in to that account from a standard Microsoft sign in page (https://login.live.com) and she can log in and see personal information.  She can’t access the Group information.
2. Restored her Office 365 user account and reset the password.  I now see her in the Group as a member.  I send her a link to the group (through the group membership sharing).  She gets to the login screen, but it says again that it doesn't recognize the user.
3. Removed her from the Group membership and sent her an invite. She gets the same login screen with the user id is not recognized message. I left her as an Office 365 unlicensed user.
4. Had her try multiple browsers (IE, Edge, Chrome) and cleared the history on each one, close, reopen and paste the link in the address bar. It takes her to the sign in page where she gets the same “doesn’t recognize user” message.
5. Had her access the link on a different PC in her office and result is the same.

Any suggestions for additional steps would be appreciated.  I am at a loss at this point how I am supposed to get her access.  I may attempt a ticket with Microsoft, but it's hard to troubleshoot since she's in a different location than I am.

[#2]

Have you tried to access in InPrivate mode? Does it work?

[#3]

Thanks for the suggestion.  I did try it, but still the same problem.  I think it may be a problem with her account.

[#4]

Time to open a support ticket...I'm lately having different problems with external users in my groups and don't know exactly what's happening...so I ended providing access to the Group site without using the guest access feature in the group

[#5]

I opened a support ticket and the help was great.  What finally solved the problem was going to the Sharepoint site created for the Group.  Click the settings gear and choose Site Permissions, then Advance Permissions settings.  I clicked on the Members group, then change the URL part where is says "people.aspx?MembershipGroupId=6", so it says GroupID=0.  This shows all the hidden entries you may not see.  Mine had an entry for Everyone except external users.  I am not sure why that showed up since my default is set to share groups externally, but once I deleted that entry, and the name of the external person I was having issues with, I was able to send a new invite and it works.

[#6]

Is the Group a Public Group?

If this is the case (and I suspect so), you should not have deleted "Everyone except external users": it must be there for the Public Group to work correctly (and hence it was not the source of your problem).

[#7]

The technician from Microsoft had me delete it.  There is another entry for "Everyone" that we kept, but the "Everyone but external users" was causing issues for external users to get access.

[#8]

Unfortunately, as we all know very well, the support representatives don't always give the correct suggestion... ;)

Anyway:

• If the Group is public, "Everyone but external users" should be in the Members group and you should not delete it. (Generally speaking, it is better to leave the Owners and Members groups alone). I am pretty sure that Its presence was not the reason of your issues. On the contrary, "Everyone" should not be in the Members group, because its presence gives to all the external users in your tenant read/write access to every file and folder in the Group.
• If the Group is private, the Members group should instead be empty (apart the Group itself, of course). 

Just my two cents...

cc @Juan Carlos González Martín