What Have I Shared in OneDrive?

A student focuses on their laptop in a classroom, as peers work on computers displaying a locked folder icon, symbolizing shared data security in OneDrive.

One of the great benefits of Microsoft OneDrive is the ability to share your files and folders. It’s fantastic for collaborating with your colleagues. In fact, it’s something I use it every day, since I’m frequently travelling and I need to be able to access files wherever I am, and on whatever device I’m using.

After a while you will probably find yourself scratching your head and asking, “What have I shared in OneDrive?”. It can be a bit tricky trying to work out what you’ve shared, and which files have been shared with you. The question is, where do you find those files? Searching for email links is like trying to solve a cryptic crossword! If you’re good at those, then I officially hate you! (Just kidding).

Now, I find that most OneDrive users have set up sync so they can use their OneDrive files directly inside of File Explorer. It’s a great feature, and one I use myself. However, I also access my files from the online version, and this is what we’re going to check out in this article.

Viewing Shared Files in OneDrive

You’ll need to navigate to OneDrive online, and there are a few ways to do this. In my example, I’ll open Microsoft 365 and login to my account. Then I can click on the App Launcher (affectionately known as the waffle) at the top left and select OneDrive.

The image displays the OneDrive menu featuring icons for Microsoft 365 apps, including Outlook, OneDrive, Word, and Excel, under a search bar.

By default, OneDrive displays everything I’ve been working on, with options for filtering files by file type, such as Word, Excel etc.

On the left of the screen, I can see my username, followed by a list of options, including Home, My Files, and of course, Shared. This is what we’re looking for.

The image shows a OneDrive interface highlighting the "Shared" section in a sidebar, accompanied by options like Home, My files, Favorites, and Recycle bin.

Clicking on Shared changes the view to display files that have been shared. At the top of the screen, you can select one of the options:

  • Shared with you – to see items that others have shared with you.
  • Shared by you – to see items that you’ve shared with others.

The image shows a OneDrive interface with files shared by the user, including "IT policies and procedures manual," "Meeting Notes 1," "Social Media Basics," and "Loop Checklist."

Now I can see all the files I’ve shared, and I can open them to make changes, or change the sharing permissions from here.

Stop Sharing a OneDrive File

To stop sharing a file, do the following:

  1. Right click the file you want to stop sharing.
  2. In the drop down list, select Manage Access.

    The image shows a OneDrive interface with files shared by the user, including "IT policies and procedures manual," "Meeting Notes 1," "Social Media Basics," and "Loop Checklist."

  3. In the Manage Access dialog box, click the Stop sharing link.
  4. Confirm the change when prompted.
The image shows a OneDrive interface for managing access to a shared document, including options to stop sharing while noting that only the owner will maintain access.

Conclusion

Sharing is a great way to work collaboratively with your files, but it can get a bit messy if you don’t keep tabs. It’s a good idea to get into the habit of regularly checking on what you have shared in OneDrive online, just to keep things tidy.

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