Microsoft 365 offers a feature called Simplified Sharing, targeted at enhancing sharing and collaboration on files and documents. The feature integrates with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, Outlook, OneDrive, SharePoint, and numerous other applications. File sharing received significant attention and tweaks, resulting from user feedback. When the "Share" button is clicked, a Share Dialog box engages, an experience utilized over eight hundred million times monthly.

Feature Deep Dive: Simplified Sharing Across Microsoft 365

In an effort to enhance collaboration across Microsoft 365 suite, Microsoft has refined its file sharing feature, known as Simplified Sharing. This feature, triggered by the "Share" button, is utilized over 800 million times each month across Microsoft 365 applications. The new feature aims to simplify the sharing and collaboration process and is now available across more than fifty Microsoft 365 applications on all platforms including Web, Desktop, and Mobile.

Simple and fast sharing across Microsoft 365

Email a link: Users can share a file with coworkers by emailing a link. Suggestions are provided based on frequent collaborators. An optional brief message can be included. Once "Send" is clicked, OneDrive crafts an email and sends it to the chosen recipients.

Copy a link: Users can create and copy a link with a single click and paste it into a Microsoft Teams chat, document, or email to provide access to the file. More granular control can be achieved by clicking the gear icon to edit permissions or block downloads.

External Sharing

The new experience allows sharing links easily with people external to your organization, while confirming and respecting admin settings and external policies, thereby making external sharing easier and faster.

Granular control when sharing files

Microsoft is improving the visibility and control over who has access to shared files or folders and their permissions.

Manage Access: Users can see and manage who has access to the shared file. The Manage Access dialog shows a list of people and groups with access to the file or folder, along with their respective permissions. It also allows for granting additional access, stopping sharing, or setting controls for how recipients access the shared files and folders.

Links: All sharing links created for the file or folder and their associated access can be viewed and managed by clicking on the “Links” tab.

Sharing sensitive files

To ensure better control over access and distribution of sensitive information, Sensitivity Labels in Microsoft 365 allow users to classify files based on their level of confidentiality. These labels have been integrated into the Share dialog and Manage Access dialog, allowing an at-a-glance understanding of file sensitivity before sharing.

Feedback from users is encouraged to further shape and improve the experience. Detailed information can be found in the following support articles:

• Sharing files, folders, and list items - Microsoft Support
• Managing access in OneDrive for business - Microsoft Support

About the author: Ihcene Cheriet is a Senior Product Manager on the OneDrive team, focusing on improving the sharing and collaboration experience across the M365 ecosystem.