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How to safely share documents internally using SharePoint. Sharing internally is especially useful when documents are too large to be sent by email, or for collaborative work.


Important points to note:


  • When sharing confidential data externally, we recommend using your OneDrive. See this article: Safely Sharing Documents Externally using OneDrive : Service Desk (stgeorgesweybridge.com).
  • Always create a new folder explicitly for sharing. Do not reuse a folder.
  • If you rename the shared folder, or rename any files within that shared folder, or even move the entire folder to within another, non-shared folder, this does NOT remove current shared permissions (although that person will need to re-authenticate to access).
  • If you add more files to the shared folder, the person you have shared the folder with will be able to see (edit or view) any and all files placed in the same folder. 
  • Be especially careful to check the correct person you are sharing with! When sharing, check the display name is not a Student or Pupil, unless that is intended, and check the Job Title to confirm the name.
  • 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 all folders.


1) In your SharePoint Document Library, create a Folder called, for example, "Internal Share":



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


3) Go up a level to the folder and click on the Share icon:



and then specify the email address of the person 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 for read only access.


4) Click on Send when finished. You will see a confirmation.



5) The person you have shared the folder, George in our example, receives an email notification of the Shared Folder (which might go into the Spam folder):



George now has access to the files within the Internal Share folder.


6) Note the Icon on the Shared folder changes so you can easily see it's being shared:



7) And that's it. Don't forget to delete or stop sharing the folder as necessary.


To remove the sharing option - go back to the Share Icon on the folder:



Click at the bottom on the lick icon 


And under Manage access, click the X next to the person you have shared the folder with:


And click on Remove:



Or you can delete the entire shared folder or the files within. Ensure you have copies if you want to keep these.


Also note that the person you have shared the files with, if given edit permissions, can download those to his or her own computer. Deleting the master files will obviously not delete these copies.


And finally, never repurpose a folder to share with anyone else - the original person or persons you gave to will still have access, unless you explicitly remove them. Always create a new folder for sharing.


Let us know of any problems.


Service Desk servicedesk@stgeorgesweybridge.com

St George’s Weybridge

Ext 5555

Service Desk Teams Channel

01932 839 422 www.stgeorgesweybridge.com

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