Secure File Sharing in OneDrive & SharePoint
Learn the various methods of secure file sharing in Microsoft OneDrive and SharePoint.
How to Share Using OneDrive
This article will teach you how to share files and folders in Microsoft OneDrive with people in and outside of the Stevens community. This article contains the following sections:
- Default Sharing Option — Within Stevens Community with Edit Access
- Sharing Options — Sharing Outside Stevens
- Sharing Options — Managing Edit Access
- Sharing Options — Adding Password Protection
- Sharing Options — Viewing Shared Links and Removing Access
- Sharing Options — Disable File/Folder Downloading
Default Sharing Option — Within Stevens Community with Edit Access
Step 1: Login into myStevens with your Stevens credentials. Navigate to the OneDrive or SharePoint Document Library icon as seen below.
Step 2: Open OneDrive or SharePoint and navigate to the file/folder you want to share.
Note: When the file/folder is not shared with anyone, it will be marked “Private” as seen below.
Step 3: Select the Share 
option.
Step 4: In the Share popup, you can type in someone’s Stevens email, and it will send them the link. Keep in mind that the default option allows the person you are sharing with to edit and download the shared file/folder.
If you would like to control the shared user’s edit access to your file/folder or add additional security measures, please proceed to the next sections. Otherwise, you can stop at this step.
Sharing Options — Sharing Outside Stevens
Please complete the previous sections to continue with this step.
Step 1: To add edit access for users outside of Stevens please select the Sharing settings option as seen below.
Step 2: Use your best judgment to determine which of the following options to choose from with the data content and its sensitivity in mind. The Data Classification Standard in Appendix A of the Stevens Information Security Policy contains examples of when data needs to have additional protections.
-
People in stevens.edu — Requires Stevens account to access shared file/folder. Use this option if your information can be safely shared with people in the Stevens community.
- Note that users you share this link with can reshare it with people within Stevens.
-
People with existing access — This option simply resends the link to someone who currently already has access to the file/folder.
- Note that this will not change their current access rights.
-
People you choose — This option allows you to share your file/folder with specific people that you select. These specific users can be in or outside of Stevens.
- Note that these people cannot share your file/folder with anyone you have not specified.
-
Anyone — No login is required; anyone who presses this link can access your file/folder. Note that users you share this link with can reshare it with anyone else. Because of this, we highly recommend you add a password, but that will be explained in the “Adding Password Protection” section of this article.
- Note this option may not be available within a SharePoint document library if external sharing has not been enabled.
Step 3: After selecting the appropriate option, you may either copy the link to your clipboard and send the link to whoever you want yourself, or you can type in their email address and Microsoft will send them the link as seen below.
Sharing Options — Managing Edit Access
Please complete the previous sections to continue with this step.
Step 1: After selecting the appropriate sharing options, you can decide if you would like people to edit your file/folder or not. By default, sharing will give the other user edit access. If you would like to disable this so they can only view the file/folder, please select the Can view option as seen below.
Sharing Options — Adding Password Protection
Please complete the previous sections to continue with this step.
Step 1: If you selected Anyone as your sharing option, you would have the option to add a password that expires on the date you set. After this date, the user you shared the file/folder with will no longer be able to access the file/folder; this includes anyone that they may have shared it with as well.
In the example below, the password will expire on May 24th, 2023. If I want the user to have access to the file/folder after May 24th, 2023, I will need to generate a new password and set a new date.
Note: Anyone as a sharing option may not be available within a SharePoint document library if external sharing has not been enabled.
Sharing Options — Viewing Shared Links and Removing Access
Please complete the previous sections to continue with this step.
Step 1: To view all the active share links you have created, select the file/folder, the 3 dots icon, and Manage Access as shown below.
Step 2: This menu will show all the links that currently give access to your file/folder. You can edit each link’s access individually, or if you would like to remove all link access, you can select the Stop Sharing option as seen below.
Sharing Options — Disable File/Folder Downloading
Please complete the previous sections to continue with this step.
Step 1: You may have noticed that in the screenshots of this article the option “Block download” has been grayed out. The only way to block the user you share your file/folder with from downloading it is to change their edit access to Can view. You can only block downloads in this situation.
Experiencing an issue or need additional support? Contact our OneIT Team by