Share a File or Folder from Teams or OneDrive

Questions

  • How do I share a file with a coworker?
  • Why does my coworker see "you need permission" when they open the link I sent?
  • What is the difference between "People in Bowdoin College with the link" and "Specific people"?
  • How do I let someone read a file without letting them change it?
  • Can I send someone the file path instead of a link?
  • How do I share a whole folder from a Teams channel?
  • How do I stop sharing a file I already shared?
  • How do I share a file with someone who does not have a Bowdoin account?
  • Can I make a shared link expire, or stop people downloading the file?
  • As a student, how do I share a document with the rest of my project group?

Environment

This article applies to anyone with a Bowdoin Microsoft 365 account who is sharing a file or folder stored in Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, or OneDrive. Sharing works the same way in the Microsoft Teams app, in the Microsoft 365 desktop apps, and in a browser, although the wording of the sharing dialog differs slightly between them.

  • Bowdoin-issued Windows 11 computers, Bowdoin-issued Macs running macOS Sequoia (15.x), Tahoe (26.x), or newer, and iPadOS (current version) are supported. Personally owned devices are best-effort only.
  • Sign in to Microsoft 365 at https://office365.bowdoin.edu before sharing anything.
  • You need at least edit access to the file yourself, and the file has to already be in Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, or OneDrive. A file on a computer desktop or on the Microwave (J:) departmental drive cannot be shared with a link.
  • Some link options are turned on or off for the whole College, so you may not see every option described here.
  • Giving a person ongoing access to a single folder is not covered here. For that, see Give Someone Access to One Folder in the Related Articles section.

Resolution

Decide between sending a link and adding the person to the Team

A link fits a person who needs one file once. Membership in the Team fits a person who needs your department's files from now on. Adding a person to the Team gives that person everything in the channel, keeps working while you are away, and leaves no trail of individual links to clean up later. For the steps, see Manage Membership of a Team or Channel in the Related Articles section. When a person needs exactly one folder and nothing else, see Give Someone Access to One Folder in the Related Articles section.

Share a file or folder

  1. Right-click the file or folder in Microsoft Teams, in a SharePoint or OneDrive library, or in a Microsoft 365 desktop app, and select Share.
  2. Type the names or Bowdoin email addresses of the people who need the file.
  3. Select the settings control next to the name box to choose the link type and the permission level.
  4. Add a short message so the recipient knows what the file is.
  5. Select Send, or select Copy link to paste the link into a chat or an email yourself.

Choose the link type

The link type decides who a link works for, no matter who ends up holding it.

  • Specific people works only for the people you name. Anyone else who opens the link is refused. Choose this by default.
  • People in Bowdoin College with the link works for any signed-in Bowdoin account. Choose this for something the whole College may see.
  • People with existing access creates a link that grants nothing new. Choose this when everyone involved already has access and the link only needs to point at the file.
  • Anyone with the link works for anyone holding the link, signed in or not. Avoid Anyone with the link. Reaching a person outside Bowdoin has a better path through guest access.
Note: Some sharing options are enabled or disabled for the whole College. When an option such as Anyone with the link or Set expiration date does not appear in the sharing dialog, the option is turned off for Bowdoin's Microsoft 365 tenant rather than broken.

Choose between Can edit and Can view

Can edit lets the person change the file, and the changes that person makes replace yours in the same file. Can view lets the person open, read, and download the file. Word files also offer Can review, which limits the person to comments and tracked suggestions.

Important: Can edit means another person's changes land in your file rather than in a copy. Choose Can view whenever the person only needs to read the file.

Add an expiration date, a password, or a download block

Where the College has made them available, the link settings also offer Set expiration date, Set password, and Block download. Block download means the person can read the file in a browser but cannot save a copy. Blocking download does not prevent a screenshot. For a full walkthrough of those settings, see Share Files with Specific People and Block Download in OneDrive in the Related Articles section.

Send a link, not a file path

A path such as J:\Department\Budget, or a path to a synced folder on your own computer, names a location on one machine. A path is not an address another person can open, so pasting one into an email gives the recipient nothing. Copy the link from the file itself instead. For a durable address to a whole channel folder, see Get URLs for Teams Channel Folders in the Related Articles section.

When the person you shared with cannot get in

A person who opens a link they were not granted sees a page offering to request access rather than seeing the file. That request goes to the owners of the SharePoint site behind the Team, not to you, so waiting on the request is slower than fixing the link. Open the file, select Manage access, and share the file again with the right person and the right link type. Manage access is also where you remove an individual link or select Stop sharing to end access to the file entirely.

Sharing with people outside Bowdoin

Sharing with an address outside Bowdoin follows a different path, and what the recipient sees is different too. For ongoing collaboration, start with Invite a Guest to a Team or Channel in the Related Articles section. Send collaborators outside the College the article Accessing Files Shared from Bowdoin Teams or OneDrive (External Users), listed in the Related Articles section, so they know what to expect. To review or end outside access later, see Extend or Remove Guest Access in OneDrive and Teams in the Related Articles section.

Additional Help

If you need further assistance, you have several options:

  • Bowdoin Bot: Chat with Bowdoin Bot directly from any KB page for instant answers.
  • Phone: Call the Bowdoin College Service Desk at (207) 725-3030.
  • In person: Visit the Tech Hub in Smith Union during business hours.
  • Submit a ticket: Request assistance through the Service Catalog.

Additional Resources

 

 

AI-assisted content: This article was created with AI. It was verified and edited by a human.
Print Article

Related Articles (12)

Accessing Files Shared from Bowdoin Teams or OneDrive (External Users)
This article explains how someone outside Bowdoin College can open a file or folder shared with them from Bowdoin OneDrive or Microsoft Teams. It covers signing in as a guest, resolving common account conflicts, and understanding how long external access lasts.
Files in Microsoft Teams: Start Here
This article is the starting point for anyone working with files in Microsoft Teams at Bowdoin, and it points to the knowledge base article that covers each task. It contains no procedures of its own, and every article it names is listed in the Related Articles section.
Files You Share in a Chat Are Not in the Channel
This article explains that a file attached to a Microsoft Teams chat is stored in the sender's own OneDrive and shared only with the people in that conversation, while a file posted in a channel is stored in the team's SharePoint library and is available to everyone with access to the channel. It covers how to tell the two apart, where meeting recordings are saved, and how to move a chat file into a channel.
Fix Links and Shortcuts After Your Files Move to Teams
This article explains why desktop shortcuts, recent file lists, spreadsheet links, browser bookmarks, and email signatures stop working after a department's files move from the Microwave (J:) drive into Microsoft Teams. It describes how to repoint each kind of link at its new location and why repairing links as they fail beats auditing every file at once.
Get URLs for Teams Channel Folders
Explains how to find a direct link to a folder or subfolder inside a Microsoft Teams channel by opening it in SharePoint and copying the browser address. These links are useful for automation, integrations, sharing, or troubleshooting. Applies to Bowdoin faculty, staff, and students using Microsoft Teams on the desktop or web.
Give Someone Access to One Folder
This article explains why giving one person access to a single folder inside a standard channel usually causes more problems than it solves, and describes four better ways to reach the same result. It also covers what to record when a custom folder permission genuinely is required.
Invite a Guest to a Team or Channel
This article explains how an owner of a Microsoft Team at Bowdoin can choose between sending an external sharing link, using a shared channel, and adding a guest to the Team. It describes what a guest can see once added, the 180-day expiry on external access, and how to remove a guest when the work ends.
Manage Membership of a Team or Channel
Instructions for team and channel owners on adding, removing, and changing the roles of members in Microsoft Teams. Covers managing members of a team, a private channel, and a shared channel, explains owner, member, and guest roles, and lists reasons membership may not be editable. Applies to Bowdoin team and channel owners.
Review Who Can See Your Team's Files
This article explains how a Team owner checks everyone who can reach the files in a Microsoft Team, including members, guests, people added directly in SharePoint, and anyone holding a sharing link. It also describes a short review a Team owner can repeat each quarter.
Share Files with Specific People and Block Download in OneDrive
Step-by-step guide to sharing OneDrive files with specific people and using the Block Download option to prevent recipients from saving copies. Includes a full breakdown of what Block Download protects and its limitations.
Understand Files in OneDrive, Teams and SharePoint
Explains how OneDrive, Microsoft Teams, and SharePoint fit together, where a file actually lives depending on whether you put it in OneDrive, a Teams chat, or a Teams channel, and how to decide where your own work belongs. Points to the step-by-step articles for moving files and for reaching them from File Explorer or Finder.