Permission & Access Issues

How to Fix Greyed Out Anyone-in-the-Organization Link in SharePoint

Maira Mehtab Sep 20, 2026 868 views

Question details

The user is unable to share a folder with anyone in their organization because the corresponding sharing link option is greyed out in SharePoint.

Product: SharePoint
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Generating a folder sharing link accessible to all internal users within a corporate Microsoft 365 environment.
Observed behavior: The "anyone in the organization" sharing link option is greyed out and unclickable, despite having reviewed standard SharePoint and administrator settings.

Before you start

Ensure you have SharePoint Administrator or Global Administrator privileges in your Microsoft 365 tenant before modifying site collection features or tenant-wide sharing policies.

Solution 1Recommended

Add Affected Users to the Authorized Group

The most common resolution involves ensuring the affected users are part of the correct authorized group in your Microsoft 365 Active teams and groups.

Access the Admin Center

Navigate to Active Teams and Groups

Go to the 'Teams & groups' section in the left navigation menu, then click on 'Active teams and groups'.

Update Authorized Group Members

Locate the specific authorized group managing SharePoint access. Add the affected users to this group and save the changes.

Solution 2

Disable Limited-Access User Permission Lockdown Mode

Site collection features like the lockdown mode can restrict sharing capabilities and grey out certain organizational link options.

Solution 3

Check External Sharing Security Group Restrictions

Tenant-level external sharing settings might be restricted to specific security groups, overriding site-level sharing capabilities.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why is the 'Anyone with the link' option greyed out in SharePoint?

This typically occurs if tenant-level sharing settings restrict external sharing, if the user is missing from the authorized group, or if specific site collection features like 'Limited-access user permission lockdown mode' are activated.

How do I change external sharing settings in the SharePoint admin center?

Go to the SharePoint admin center, expand 'Policies', click 'Sharing', and adjust the slider or specific configurations to allow 'Anyone' or 'New and existing guests' based on your organizational policies.

Can standard site owners fix greyed-out sharing options?

Site owners can deactivate the lockdown mode in Site collection features, but if the restriction is set at the tenant level in the SharePoint admin center, Global or SharePoint Administrator rights are required to resolve it.

Document & File Issues