Permission & Access Issues

Do Files Moved from OneDrive to SharePoint Inherit Permissions?

Ayan Masood Oct 1, 2026 868 views

Question details

The user needs to know if documents transferred from OneDrive to a SharePoint library will keep their original access rights or adopt the permissions of the new folder.

Do Files Moved from OneDrive to SharePoint Inherit Destination Permissions?

Product: Microsoft OneDrive and SharePoint
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Migrating or moving files from a personal or business OneDrive account to a shared SharePoint document library.
Observed behavior: Files successfully moved to SharePoint adopt the destination folder's permission structure, replacing their original OneDrive access settings.

Before you start

Before moving files containing sensitive data, review the destination SharePoint folder's access groups to ensure unauthorized users will not inadvertently gain access through inherited permissions.

Solution 1Recommended

Verify and Manage Inherited Permissions in SharePoint

Understand how permission inheritance works upon transferring files and verify the final access rights using SharePoint's Manage Access settings.

When you move a file from OneDrive to SharePoint, the original OneDrive permissions are discarded. The file automatically inherits the access rights, sharing groups, and security restrictions of its new destination folder or document library in SharePoint.

Move the file to SharePoint

Select the target file in your OneDrive, click the 'Move to' option on the top ribbon, and choose your desired SharePoint site and destination document library.

Open Manage Access

Navigate to the newly moved file in the SharePoint document library, click the three-dot menu (ellipsis) next to the file name, and select 'Manage access'.

Review inherited permissions

Check the People and Links tabs to see who now has access. The file will display the exact access groups and individuals assigned to the parent SharePoint folder.

Verify and Manage Inherited Permissions in SharePoint

Assigning Unique Permissions: If you need the moved file to have different access rights than the rest of the SharePoint library, you must click 'Advanced settings', stop inheriting permissions, and assign unique permissions manually.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Do files copied (rather than moved) from OneDrive to SharePoint keep original permissions?

No. Whether a file is copied or moved, the newly created instance in SharePoint will inherit the permissions of the destination document library. The original file left in OneDrive retains its original access settings.

Will my previous OneDrive sharing links still work after moving the file to SharePoint?

Generally, moving a file across different cloud environments (from personal OneDrive to a shared SharePoint site) invalidates the original sharing links. You will need to generate and distribute new sharing links from the SharePoint location.

How do I stop a file from inheriting SharePoint library permissions?

After moving the file, open 'Manage access', select 'Advanced settings', and click 'Stop Inheriting Permissions' in the ribbon. You can then safely remove parent groups and grant access exclusively to specific users.

Why can't certain colleagues see the file after I moved it to SharePoint?

If those colleagues do not have existing access rights to the destination SharePoint library, they won't be able to see the file. Since the file drops OneDrive permissions and adopts the destination's permissions, you must manually grant them access to the new location.

Document & File Issues