The complex world of external sharing and access in Microsoft 365

(Updated 17 March 2023 with further details about Microsoft Entra settings and B2B Direct connect, see below). By default, external sharing and access is (mostly) enabled by default in Microsoft 365. Unless the settings have been changed in the various locations described below, end users can usually: Click the 'share' icon next to a folder …

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Ten tips for records managers to monitor records in Microsoft 365

With the large-scale adoption of Microsoft 365 (M365), many records managers have had to find ways to manage the records that have been (and continue to be) captured and stored across the ecosystem, including via Teams, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business and Exchange Online. The M365 ecosystem is more complicated than a single server-based Electronic …

Why records managers and IT need to understand Microsoft 365 groups better

Office (later Microsoft) 365 (M365) Groups were introduced to Office 365 in 2014. Although Microsoft Teams was introduced in March 2017, there has been a general lack of understanding about the relationship between Teams and M365 Groups on the part of both records managers and IT. This post explains what both records managers and IT …

What is stored in an Exchange Online mailbox?

Email mailboxes have long been the primary repository for work-related emails (and attachments) and calendaring information. Some of these emails may have been copied to electronic document and records management (EDRM) systems or saved to network drives. Very often some form of mailbox archiving was introduced to help reduce storage by moving inactive content to …

Understanding OneDrives – for records managers

OneDrive is a standard feature in Microsoft 365 licences. OneDrives: Provide a 'personal' space to store content, with up to 1 TB of storage, that cannot be accessed by anyone except the relevant admins (no different from their previous ability to access 'personal' or 'home ' drives). Can be accessed by end-users directly from File …

Delete or do nothing – retention policy outcomes on Exchange Online mailboxes and OneDrive accounts

Microsoft 365 Exchange Online (EXO) mailboxes and OneDrives assigned to individual end users have one thing in common - they may contain the only copy of corporate records (and other content) that cannot be easily accessed or managed as records. Organisational efforts to encourage end users to save emails (and other potential records) to a …

Using PnP PowerShell to move folders and document sets in SharePoint Online

In a previous post 'Observations on 'Move To' in SharePoint Online', I noted that the 'Move To' functionality was generally suitable for moving 1000s of files between sites in the same tenant subject to a number of conditions. But what if the 'Move To' function does not show the destination location? There are several suggestions …

Managing SharePoint legacy

SharePoint is over 20 years old and so it's not surprising that various legacy elements continue to float about or get created, even in SharePoint Online. Legacy elements in SharePoint can be both a blessing and a curse. The blessing is that some core elements haven't changed (or changed much) in a very long time …

Sharing SharePoint sites

Modern SharePoint sites include the option to 'Share site' or 'Share site only' (for sites linked with Microsoft 365 Groups). This option is found under 'Site Permissions'. Left - Non-Group based site / Right - Group based site When the option to share site is selected, a note states the following: 'Add users, Microsoft 365 …

Observations on ‘Move To’ in SharePoint Online

The following are observations from using the 'Move To' function in a SharePoint Online library to move close to 18,500 files and folders over a weekend, from a 'classic' SharePoint subsite in a SharePoint Online site to a new and 'free standing' site in the same tenant. The moving was completed over a weekend to …