How to Hide Shared Folder Activity and Details in OneDrive
Question details
The user wants to prevent users with limited permissions from viewing the recent activity and sharing information in the details pane of a OneDrive or SharePoint shared folder.
- Product
- OneDrive and SharePoint
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Managing folder privacy and restricting the visibility of collaboration history and user lists in a shared directory.
- Observed behavior
- Users with limited permissions can still see recent activity and sharing information in the details pane, and attempts to hide this using JSON or CSS do not work.
Verify your current administrative access and review the existing sharing permissions for the OneDrive or SharePoint folder in question.
Review Sharing Model and Limit Access
Since hiding activity details from authorized users is not natively supported, the best approach is to modify your overall folder sharing strategy.
Currently, OneDrive and SharePoint do not provide a supported setting to disable the activity feed or hide the list of people a folder is shared with in the Details pane.
Attempting to restrict these interface controls using custom CSS or JSON formatting is unsupported and will not securely hide the information from users who have been granted access.
Open your OneDrive or SharePoint folder, click on 'Manage Access', and review the list of users who currently have read or write permissions.
If certain users should absolutely not see the collaboration activity or the names of other users, you must remove their access to this specific shared folder.
Instead of using one centralized folder with limited permissions, create separate, isolated folders for different user groups to ensure strict privacy.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use CSS or JSON to hide the details pane in SharePoint?
No, attempting to customize forms with JSON or hide interface controls using CSS does not securely remove the activity details, and users can often still access the information.
Who can see the activity in a shared OneDrive folder?
By default, any user who has been granted access to the shared folder—even with limited read-only permissions—can view its recent activity and the list of people it is shared with.
Is there a workaround to keep OneDrive file activity private?
The most effective workaround is to not share the folder with users who shouldn't see the activity. Instead, share specific individual files or set up dedicated folders for different collaborators.
Where can I request Microsoft to add a feature to hide sharing details?
You can request this feature by posting on the official SharePoint or OneDrive feedback portals, or you can ask the community for structural workarounds on Microsoft Q&A.
