by Svetlana Cheusheva, updated on
From this article, you will learn where to find OneDrive folders and files that someone has shared with and how to change permissions for those you are sharing with others.
OneDrive is a perfect place for sharing your documents and collaborating with your colleagues. After someone has shared something with you, the next question is - where do I find those files? Searching emails for a sharing link is surely not the best way. Luckily, OneDrive displays all the items shared with you and by you in a special view. For more details, please continue reading :)
After someone has shared a file or folder with you, it is automatically added to the Shared list. The behavior slightly varies between personal and business accounts.
To view all shared files and folders, simply click Shared in the navigation pane on the left:
For the items shared with you, you can see the permissions provided to you by the item's owner:
Tip. If you are provided with edit permissions to a folder, you can add that folder to your OneDrive and it will appear among your own items in the My Files list. The original shared folder and its "copy" will sync automatically, so everyone who has access to it will stay up to date. Moreover, when you set up syncing between your computer and OneDrive, all shared folders added to My Files will show up in your Windows File Explorer side by side with your own folders.
To find shared items, click Shared in the navigation pane, and then select one of these options at the top of the page:
For items shared with you, a couple of additional options are available.
To sort the Shared list by item's name, date shared, or person who shared, click the column name and pick the desired option from the drop-down list.
To view only the items relevant at a given moment, click the Filter icon in the upper-right corner.
On the Filters pane, you can filter the shared items by:
Tips and notes:
If you no longer need access to a file or folder that someone shared with you, you can remove it from your Shared view. As you may expect, this feature works a bit differently in different OneDrive versions.
For this, select the item, and then click Remove from shared list on the top menu bar. Or right click the file or folder and pick the above option from the context menu.
Either way, please keep in mind that removing an item automatically revokes your permission to access it.
Like in OneDrive personal, you can remove a file or folder from the Shared view by using the Remove from shared list option. But here you will still keep permissions to it! If you use the sharing link provided to you by the item's owner, the item will re-appear in your Shared list.
Finally, let's look at how you can stop sharing a file or folder or change the permissions you've provided to other people. I believe no one will be surprised to hear that it works differently for personal and business accounts :)
Note. Whichever OneDrive version you use, it's not possible to change the permission of a sharing link that works for anyone or for people in your organization. The only option available to you is to delete the existing link, and then create a new one with a required permission.
That's how to view and manage OneDrive shared files and folders. I thank you for reading and hope to see you on our blog next week!
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