--- title: "Share Microsoft 365 files with External Users" canonical: "https://kb.uconn.edu/space/IKB/27237122065/Share%20Microsoft%20365%20files%20with%20External%20Users" format: markdown --- Students, faculty, and staff may share OneDrive and SharePoint files securely with people outside of the UConn community. Anyone who does not have a @uconn.edu email address is considered external; this includes UConn Health and the Foundation. ## Sharing a file from a UConn account to an external account When you share a file or folder, you have two options: - **Directly with others (recommended)**: Enter the email address for the external recipient. We recommend that the recipients log in to their Microsoft accounts because it is a more streamlined and secure experience. > ℹ️ **What if the recipient does not have a Microsoft account?** > ℹ️ > ℹ️ - They can use a one-time code to access the data. > ℹ️ - They may create a free account at [http://office.com](http://office.com) - **Anyone**: This is not recommended. This option allows anyone view/edit the file without authentication (signing in). This means anyone who gets the share link can edit the data. - When choosing the “Anyone” option, UConn community members are given extra tools to help with security. Only when choosing “Anyone,” you may also set a password to access the data and an expiration date for the share link. After this date, or without the password, a user cannot access the data behind the share link. - If you do not have the “Anyone” option, please email [techsupport@uconn.edu](mailto:techsupport@uconn.edu) and ask for external sharing to be enabled on your SharePoint site. Include your site URL in your message so ITS can apply the setting to your specific site. > ✅ For more information about sharing files, view [https://uconn.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/IKB/pages/27249246298](https://uconn.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/IKB/pages/27249246298). ## Experience of External Users To view the external user experience, visit [https://uconn.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/IKB/pages/27238170676](https://uconn.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/IKB/pages/27238170676). This guide can be shared with external users to help them through the process. ## Related Guides > Macro (children)