Permission & Access Issues

Fix OneDrive External Sharing Showing Only Microsoft Account Sign-In

WPS Editor Sep 30, 2026 868 views

Question details

An external guest is prompted to sign in with a Microsoft account instead of receiving an email passcode when attempting to access a shared OneDrive folder.

Fix OneDrive External Sharing Showing Only Microsoft Account Sign-In

Product: Microsoft OneDrive
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: An external guest tries to open a OneDrive folder shared by a Microsoft 365 Business Basic user.
Observed behavior: The guest is shown a Microsoft account sign-in request instead of the expected one-time email passcode prompt.

Before you start

Ensure you have Microsoft 365 Global Administrator or SharePoint Administrator privileges, as adjusting organization-wide external sharing policies is required.

Solution 1Recommended

Review and Update SharePoint External Sharing Policies

Modify the organization's sharing settings in the SharePoint admin center to allow email passcode authentication or 'Anyone' links.

By default, some Microsoft 365 tenants restrict external sharing to users who already have a Microsoft account. To allow guests to access files using a one-time email passcode, the sharing policy must be adjusted.

Log in to the Admin Center

Go to the Microsoft 365 admin center and navigate to the SharePoint admin center.

Access Sharing Policies

In the left navigation pane, expand 'Policies' and select 'Sharing'.

Adjust External Sharing Sliders

Ensure the external sharing sliders for SharePoint and OneDrive are set to 'New and existing guests' or 'Anyone'.

Enable Passcode Authentication

Scroll down to 'More external sharing settings' and ensure the option to allow guests to authenticate using one-time passcodes is supported and not restricted by conditional access.

Save Changes

Click 'Save' at the bottom of the page and ask the external guest to try accessing the shared folder link again.

Review and Update SharePoint External Sharing Policies

Propagation Time: Policy changes in the SharePoint admin center may take up to 24 hours to fully propagate across the organization.

Solution 2

Contact Microsoft Support for Tenant Issues

If the sharing policies are correctly configured but the guest still cannot access the folder via passcode, open a support ticket.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why is my external guest forced to create a Microsoft account?

This happens when your organization's external sharing policy is restricted to authenticated users and does not allow one-time email passcodes, or if Azure AD B2B collaboration settings are enforcing strict sign-in requirements.

Can I share a OneDrive file without requiring any sign-in?

Yes, provided your SharePoint administrator has enabled 'Anyone' links in the sharing policies. You can then select 'Anyone with the link' when sharing a file, allowing anonymous access.

How long does it take for SharePoint external sharing policy changes to apply?

While some changes take effect within a few minutes, it can take up to 24 hours for organization-wide external sharing policy updates to fully propagate across all OneDrive and SharePoint sites.

Document & File Issues