Sharing Sharepoint with External Users

Question

I have a Sharepoint site I wish to share with members of other companies.  Sharing with external users is enabled on the site, and I am able to send them invitations using Outlook, however when they try to log in using their corresponding Micorosoft account to accept the invitation, they are told that their account does not exist.  I know the accounts do exist, as they are otherwise logged into Office and able to access their own apps.  Is this because there are different databases for Microsoft and Office 365 accounts?  And, if so, what instructions can I give them so that they are able accept my invitation and access the site?  Thank you for the help.

Answer 1

Hi JBSFM,

Regarding the error message: "We're sorry but [email] can't be found in the SharePoint directory.  Please try again later while we try to automatically fix this for you". I would suggest you go to the following location to check if the user’s account is listed there. If yes, please remove it from these locations, then assign permission to see if it works. 

1.Remove the external user from the active users list in the portal.

1).Go to Office 365 portal -> Users -> Active Users

2).In the user list, find the external user account. It looks like abc_xyz.com#EXT#@tenantname.onmicrosoft.com

Delete the user.

2.Remove the external user from the UserInfo list.

1).Navigate to the site, edit the URL by adding the following string to the end of it:

_layouts/15/people.aspx/membershipGroupId=0

2).For example, the full URL will resemble the following:

https://<contoso>.sharepoint.com/_layouts/15/people.aspx/membershipGroupId=0

3).Select the user’s account from the list.

Actions -> remove selected users from this SharePoint group.

3.Remove the external user account from the site.

1)Download and install the SharePoint Online Management Shell. For more information, go to the following Microsoft website:

Introduction to the SharePoint Online Management Shell

2)Type the command below:

(1)Cmdlet: connect-sposervice

(2)Url: https://<your tenant domian>-admin.sharepoint.com

(3)

$user = Get-SPOExternalUser -Filter affected account email

Remove-SPOExternalUser -UniqueIDs @($user.UniqueId)

(4)Type Y to apply.

Besides, we can go to https://tenantname-admin.sharepoint.com/_layouts/15/online/ExternalSharing.aspx to select External users must accept sharing invitations using the same account that the invitations were sent to option to avoid same issue.

Regards,

Eli

Answer 2

Thank you for the suggestions.  I checked her permissions on the site, and they are listed as Read (as they should be) through two different groups of users I have made.  The error message she is given is "We're sorry but [email] can't be found in the sharepoint directory.  Please try again later while we try to automatically fix this for you."  Clearing cookies, cache, and switching computers did not help.  Is there anything else I can try? 

I also have a new group of users who are getting the error of 'that account does not exist' when they try to login to their Microsoft account to access the site.  None of the suggestions have helped them access the site so far either, I am sorry.  I was able to accept one of their invitations through my own email, however, so in the History section of the Access Requests page it now shows [New User Email], accepted by Me.  This new user still receives the 'that account does not exist' error when trying to log in, however.

Answer 3

Hi JBSFM,

Seems the user cannot access the site by clicking the email notification. If so, does the "Access Denied" persist when she access the site via site URL on her end? In the meantime, please go to the site permission level page to check her permission level via Site Permissions >Advanced permissions settings >Click "Check Permissions" and confirm her access permission.

If so, could you help confirm the following scenarios to narrow down if the issue is caused by her account or :

1.Please let her try clearing the cookie and cache of the current browser and re-accessing the site. Does the issue remain?

2.If she change another PC environment, does the "Access Denied" still emerge?

Regards,

Eli

Answer 4

Thank you for the reply.  It looks like all but one of my external users can now access the site.  The one that cannot was able to access the site one time, when the invitation was originally sent, and now is no longer able to.  I have tried removing her from the user group and re-adding her, adding her to another group of users, and re-sending the invitation, and nothing has helped. 

I also learned that email from this user had been directed to my "Junk Email" folder.  Could these two things be related?  She is now added on my Outlook as a trusted sender, but still cannot access the site when an invitation is sent.  Are there any other options we could try?

Answer 5

Hi JBSFCS,

Yes, Microsoft account (called personal account) is different from Office 365 account (called Work/School account ). But external users with either account type can access the shared SharePoint site as guests. Given the situation, I would like to confirm if you have followed the steps below to invite external users:

For a classic Team site, you could follow the article Share a site.

For a modern Team site, you could click the gear in the upper right corner >Site Permissions >Advanced permissions settings >Gant Permissions >Invite an External user and choose the permission level.

If so, I would suggest they access Outlook Online and click the invitation in the email to ensure using the consistent account.

If the issue persists, I would like to confirm the following information:

1.Does the issue occur in all external users or the certain users with Microsoft account?

2.If you re-invite a new external user by following the steps mentioned, does the issue remain?

3.Please share the screenshot of the error message external users get with us.

Regards,

Eli