SharePoint and Microsoft 365 External Sharing with Microsoft Accounts

I wrote a detailed post some time ago on how external sharing works with guests who do not have a Microsoft account. Today, I want to explain how external sharing works with external users with a Microsoft account.

Just to make sure we are on the same page when it comes to sharing externally, 3 types of external sharing can occur:

1. Users with Microsoft 365 Accounts from their respective organizations
2. Users with Microsoft Accounts (i.e., Outlook.com, Live.com, Hotmail.com, etc.)
3. Users with Non-Microsoft Accounts (i.e., Gmail.com, Yahoo.com, etc.)

I explained how external sharing works with non-Microsoft accounts here. Today, I will explain the second option—sharing with Microsoft accounts.

What do I mean by Microsoft account?

By Microsoft Account, I mean the free domain accounts you might already have: Hotmail.com, Outlook.com, Live.com, Xbox.com. I also want to note that I am not talking about the Microsoft 365 account you might get from Work/Organization (this is something I will explain in a future post).

Scenario # 1: Inviting External Microsoft Account User to the Microsoft Team

Sharing a Team to Microsoft accounts is very similar to those of non-Microsoft accounts, except you do not receive the request to enter the temporary passcode.

1. Once you invite an external user with one of the Microsoft accounts (i.e., outlook.com), the recipient receives an email like the one below.
2. Once the user clicks on Open Microsoft Teams, he has to Accept legal terms.
3. Once accepted, the external user has instant access to a shared Microsoft Team
4. Behind the scenes, the user is added to the User Directory.

Scenario # 2: Inviting External Microsoft Account User to the SharePoint Site

Sharing a SharePoint Site to Microsoft accounts is very similar to those of non-Microsoft accounts, except you do not receive the request to enter the temporary passcode.

1. 1. To share a site, click on Gear Icon > Site Permissions, then Add members > Share site only
   2. Type in the external user’s email address
   3. The recipient then receives an email that looks like this
   4. Once they click on a Site link from the email above, they have to enter their email address (Outlook.com address in our case)
   5. Then, accept some legal terms
   6. After the legal terms are accepted, the recipient will have access to the site.
   7. Just like with the Team external sharing, the user will end up in the User Directory

Scenario # 3: Inviting External Microsoft Account User to a File or Folder

Sharing a file or folder externally to a Microsoft account like Outlook.com is no different than sharing a file or folder to a non-Microsoft account like gmail.com.

1. Right-click on a file or folder and click Share. Then, enter the external user’s email address and click Invite.
2. The recipient then receives an email below and clicks Open.
3. On the next screen, the user will need to type in the email address. Click Next.
4. Microsoft will then need to send another email with a temporary passcode
5. Then, the user will paste the verification code and click Verify.
6. After that, the external user will have access to the shared folder!
7. As with a non-Microsoft account, when files and folders are shared externally, those external recipients are not added to the User Directory!