Microsoft is introducing an important change to the way files and folders are shared with people outside our organisation through SharePoint and OneDrive.
What is changing?
Until now, external recipients could access shared content through a one-time passcode sent by email, without being added to our directory as a guest user. Microsoft is retiring this legacy sharing method and replacing it with Microsoft Entra B2B guest access. As a result, a guest account must now be created for every external user before content can be shared with them. This change applies to both SharePoint and OneDrive and cannot be disabled.
What does this mean for you?
- Sharing links with EXISTING external guests: If the person you are sharing with already has a guest account in the BESIX Group environment, sharing will continue to work as usual. However, some external users who received access in the past may now encounter an "Access Denied" message when opening folders or documents that were previously shared with them. This happens because Microsoft now requires these users to have a guest account in our BESIX Group environment. If one of your external contacts reports an access issue, please contact the BESIX ICT Service Desk. Once the guest account has been created, access will be restored.
- Sharing links with NEW external guests: If you want to share content with a person who has never been added as a guest to the BESIX Group environment before, a guest account must first be created. Within the BESIX Group environment, standard users cannot create guest accounts themselves for security reasons. As a result, sharing with new external contacts is currently not possible until the guest account has been created by ICT. In the coming days, a self-service solution will be introduced to simplify the registration of new guest users. Until then, please contact the BESIX ICT Service Desk to request the creation of a new guest account.
Why is Microsoft making this change?
This update strengthens security and governance by ensuring that all external collaborators are managed through Microsoft Entra B2B. Guest users can then be covered by the same security controls and auditing capabilities used across Microsoft 365.
Need help?
If an external user receives an "Access Denied" message, if you need to share content with a new external contact, or if you have any questions about sharing content with external partners, please contact the BESIX ICT Service Desk via the ICT Service Desk portal, by phone +32 2 402 65 55 or e-mail.