--- title: "SharePoint and OneDrive Sharing Controls, Explained | StartCloud" description: "Module 5 of our free Microsoft 365 Security Essentials pathway: how sharing links work, the four external sharing levels, and a sensible baseline for small business." lang: en json-ld: | [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": [ "LocalBusiness", "ProfessionalService" ], "@id": "https://startcloud.au/#business", "name": "StartCloud", "legalName": "Start Technologies Pty Ltd", "alternateName": "StartCloud Australia", "identifier": { "@type": "PropertyValue", "propertyID": "ABN", "value": "17 676 121 449" }, "slogan": "Go Beyond", "description": "StartCloud is Perth's cybersecurity-first AI MSP: managed IT, Essential Eight security, Microsoft 365 and cloud, networking, and practical AI for Australian businesses with 5 to 50 staff.", "url": "https://startcloud.au", "logo": "https://startcloud.au/og-image.png", "image": "https://startcloud.au/og-image.png", "telephone": "+61862850001", 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"https://www.google.com/maps/place/StartCloud/@-31.8648767,115.8069889,739m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x2a32a5b5d9e864b5:0x9f02690968f0e50c!8m2!3d-31.8648813!4d115.8095638!16s%2Fg%2F11vzbgtytj" ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "LearningResource", "name": "Keeping Data Where It Belongs: SharePoint and OneDrive Sharing", "description": "Module 5 of the Microsoft 365 Security Essentials pathway: how sharing links work, why Anyone links are the risky default, the organisation-level external sharing settings, and a sensible small-business baseline with step-by-step setup.", "educationalLevel": "Intermediate", "learningResourceType": "Module", "isPartOf": { "@type": "Course", "name": "Microsoft 365 Security Essentials", "url": "https://startcloud.au/learn", "provider": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "StartCloud", "url": "https://startcloud.au" } }, "author": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "StartCloud", "url": "https://startcloud.au" }, "datePublished": "2026-07-23", "dateModified": "2026-07-23", "url": "https://startcloud.au/learn/sharepoint-onedrive-sharing-controls" } ] --- [![StartCloud](/assets/StartCloud-Logo-ByZE1kzP.svg "StartCloud: Cybersecurity-First Managed IT Services Perth")](/ "StartCloud | Managed IT Services Perth") - Cybersecurity - AI Solutions - Cloud - Technology - Networking - Explore [Contact Us](/contact "Contact StartCloud, Perth IT Support") Open menu Module 5 of StartCloud's Microsoft 365 Security Essentials learning pathway, in six short units with a knowledge check: how SharePoint and OneDrive sharing links work, why Anyone links are the risky default, the four organisation-level external sharing settings, and a sensible small-business baseline with step-by-step setup. Course contents [Pathway overview](/learn/microsoft-365-security-essentials) Pathway Microsoft 365 Security Essentials 0 of 6 units done in this module 1. [Turn on MFA ](/learn/microsoft-365-multi-factor-authentication) 2. [Protect admin accounts ](/learn/protect-admin-accounts-microsoft-365) 3. [Preset security policies ](/learn/microsoft-365-preset-security-policies) 4. [Stop email spoofing ](/learn/stop-email-spoofing-spf-dkim-dmarc) 5. Sharing controls 1. How company files actually leak 1 min 2. The three kinds of sharing link 2 min 3. The organisation-wide dial 2 min 4. A sensible baseline for a small business 2 min 5. Set it up, step by step 2 min 6. Knowledge check 2 min 6. [Conditional Access, properly ](/learn/conditional-access-done-properly) 7. [Data protection with Purview ](/learn/data-protection-microsoft-purview) 8. [Backups and retention ](/learn/microsoft-365-backups-and-retention) 9. [Starters and leavers ](/learn/microsoft-365-starters-and-leavers) 10. [Devices with Intune ](/learn/managing-devices-with-intune) # Keeping Data Where It Belongs: SharePoint and OneDrive Sharing Module 5 · Data Unit 1 of 6 · about 1 min ## How company files actually leak When people picture a data leak they picture a hacker in a hoodie. The reality in most small businesses is far less cinematic. It is a quote spreadsheet shared with a supplier two years ago, forwarded on to someone you have never met, still opening perfectly today. Nobody broke in. Someone was let in, and the door never shut. SharePoint and OneDrive make sharing wonderfully easy, and that is mostly a good thing. Microsoft actually recommends leaving external sharing on, because the alternative is worse: staff emailing attachments around or stashing files in personal Dropbox accounts where you have no visibility at all. The goal of this module is not to bolt everything shut. It is to set sensible defaults so the easy path is also the safe path. The main culprit has a name: the **Anyone link**. It works for anyone who has it, no sign-in required, and because nobody signs in, you cannot see who has been reading your files. It can be forwarded endlessly, and unless you say otherwise, it never expires. The key-under-the-mat way to think about it An Anyone link is the office key under the front mat. Handy when the plumber needs to get in, but once one person knows where it is, you have no idea who else does. The rest of this module is about deciding when the key comes out, and making sure it does not live under the mat forever. Mark done and continue ![StartCloud](/assets/StartCloud-Logo-ByZE1kzP.svg "StartCloud: Cybersecurity-First Managed IT Services Perth") Cybersecurity-led IT for Australian businesses. We manage security, compliance, and modern IT environments, so risk is governed, not guessed. 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