External Users in SharePoint

Owned by Dan Jakubiak
Last updated: Jan 16, 2025
3 min read

Students, faculty, and staff may add people who do not have a “@uconn.edu” email address to their SharePoint site for real-time collaboration.

The external user needs to have a Microsoft account to use Microsoft 365 apps. Both paid and free Microsoft accounts will allow them to collaborate on UConn files; your files, and files uploaded by the external user, are held within the storage that UConn pays for. Ensure that you invite external users by the email address they have associated with their Microsoft Account.

Adding external users

  1. Navigate to s.uconn.edu/sharepoint and click on your SharePoint site.

  2. In the top-right corner, click on # Members. Note that it may instead say Site Access.

    image-20250116-151625.png

  3. Click on Add members.

  4. Click on the go to Outlook link that sites in the first paragraph.

    image-20250116-151722.png

  5. This will open up the People app associated with this SharePoint site.

  6. Click on Add members in the top ribbon.

  7. Type in the email addresses that you would like to invite.

  8. When you are finished typing in addresses, click Add at the bottom of this window.

Alternate: Add Users by having them Request Access

If you would instead like your users to request access to your SharePoint site, you can follow these instructions.

  1. Navigate to s.uconn.edu/sharepoint and click on your SharePoint site.

  2. Highlight the URL in your browser in order to copy your site URL. Copy up to the end of the name of your site between the two slashes, as shown below.

  3. Copy this link and send it to your users.

  4. When they clink on the link, they will be brought to a UConn log in screen. They must type in their email address that is associated with their Microsoft account.

  5. Once they sign in, they will have the opportunity to type a message before they click on Request Access.

  6. Note that they cannot request access to a subset of the data on the site, they must request access to the entire site.

  7. You will receive an email notifying you of their request.

    1. If they should have access to the entire site, you may grant it from this email

    2. If they should only have access to a subset of the site’s data, please view this guide: Users Request Access to SharePoint Folder.

  8. Once you have granted them access, you are done.

Remove existing external members

Removing members is a very similar process to adding them; you must visit the Group in Outlook.

  1. Navigate to s.uconn.edu/sharepoint and click on your SharePoint site.

  2. In the top-right corner, click on # Members. Note that it may instead say Site Access.

  3. Click on Add members.

  4. Click on the go to Outlook link that sites in the first paragraph.

  5. This will open up the People app associated with this SharePoint site.

  6. Look at the list of Members, and click on the X to remove someone.

Help guide to send to External Users

Join SharePoint as an External User

Related Guides