Safely Sharing Documents Externally using OneDrive : Service Desk

Here is how to safely share documents externally. Sharing externally is especially useful when documents are too large to be sent by email, or for collaborative work with another school, for example.

Important points to note:

We do NOT recommend sharing confidential information externally using a Teams SharePoint Site. This is because, by default, only you have access to your OneDrive, whereas all Teams members have access to the Teams SharePoint Site and therefore to the information you are sharing.
Always create a new folder explicitly for sharing externally.
If you rename the external shared folder, or rename any files with that shared folder, or even move the entire folder to within another, non-shared folder, this does NOT remove current shared permissions (although the external person will need to re-authenticate to access).
If you add more files to the shared folder, the external person will be able to see (edit or view) any and all files placed in the same folder.
External Access will expire automatically after 30 days. If the external recipient (guest) still needs access, you must re-share.
You must ensure that you right-click on the specific folder you want to share! Just right-clicking with a folder selected could mean you are sharing your entire OneDrive.

1) In your OneDrive, create a Folder called, for example, "External Share":

2) In here put all the documents that you want to share externally:

3) Go up a level and right-click on the "External Share" Folder, and click on Share:

and then specify the email address of the external person (guest) you want to share the documents with. Note in the down arrow next to the Pen icon, you can set Edit or View only permissions. Edit is useful for collaborative work, otherwise set it as View.

4) The external person receives an email advising of the Shared Folder (which will probably go into the Spam folder):

And before opening the folder, Mr Bond in this example, must click on the folder icon, and is taken to a verification webpage:

The Code is sent to the external's email address (this ensures only the nominated external person can access the information):

And Mr Bond enters it on the authentication webpage to gain access:

And that's it. Note the folder in your OneDrive now has an extra icon next to it to show it is being shared, as do all the files within the shared folder. Don't forget to delete or stop sharing the folder as necessary.

To stop sharing the folder or files:

Safest way is to delete the entire shared folder! Ensure you have copies if you want to keep these. Create a new folder, do not share it, and move the relevant files in here.
Right Click on the Shared Folder, and click on the "Shared with:" person's icon (you will also appear in the list):