Sharepoint site, guest access not working

Question

We have Sharepoint site and it has strange issue with read-only permissions. It always says you don´t have access when someone is added to "Site visitors" group, it´s like that group is denied with access to site. Any idea what is the issue here?

Answer 1

Hello @SauPom,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A Forum!

To better understand whether this is a site‑specific issue or something broader, could you please confirm: 

1. Do other SharePoint sites in your environment show the same behavior for guests? 
2. Are other permission levels (Members / Owners) working correctly for external users?   

Your answers will help us pinpoint whether the problem is related to sharing policies, group permissions, or unique permission inheritance on the site. 

 

To further troubleshoot this behavior, I’d recommend double-checking the external sharing settings at both the SharePoint organization level and the site level to ensure everything is aligned.  

First, please go to the SharePoint admin center. In the left navigation pane, select Policies, then Sharing. Under the SharePoint sharing section, confirm that external sharing is set to “Anyone” or “New and existing guests". If you need to make any changes here, please be sure to select Save once completed.  

Next, still in the SharePoint admin center, expand Sites and select Active sites. Locate and select the affected site, then open the Settings tab and choose More sharing settings. Please confirm that sharing this site is also set to “Anyone” or “New and existing guests" and save any changes if applicable.  

Additionally, from the site itself, please navigate to Site Content > Site Settings, then open Site collection features.  

Ensure that the Limited-access user permission lockdown mode feature is deactivated. This feature can prevent external users from accessing content even when permissions appear to be granted.  

For your reference: Collaborate with guests in a site (IT Admins) | Microsoft Learn  

If all of the above settings are already correctly configured and the external users still cannot access the site, there is one more step you can try. Please go to Site permissions

Select Advanced permissions  

Once that page opens, click on “Visitors”, Please change the value to “0" in the URL and reload the page.

After that, remove all affected external users from the "All People" page. Then add them back again and test the access flow once more.

Please let me know what you find after reviewing these settings and questions. I’ll be happy to continue assisting you based on the results. 

 

Kind regards,

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Answer 2

The issue you are experiencing with the "Site visitors" group in SharePoint may be related to the way permissions are managed. If users added to the "Site visitors" group are still receiving access denied messages, it could be due to several factors:

1. Permissions Configuration: Ensure that the permissions for the "Site visitors" group are correctly set to allow read access to the site. Sometimes, permissions may not propagate correctly, or there may be unique permissions set at the site level that override group permissions.
2. Microsoft 365 Group Association: If your SharePoint site is part of a Microsoft 365 group, the permissions for that group may affect access. Users who are members of the Microsoft 365 group should have access to the SharePoint site, but if they are added only to the "Site visitors" group, they may not have the necessary permissions to view the site.
3. Guest Access Settings: If the users in question are guests, ensure that guest access is enabled for your SharePoint site. Sometimes, guest access settings can restrict visibility even for users in the "Site visitors" group.
4. Directory Synchronization: If you are using directory synchronization, ensure that the users are properly synchronized and recognized in your directory. If they are not found in the directory, they will not be granted access.

To troubleshoot, you might want to check the permissions settings for the site, verify the group memberships, and ensure that guest access is configured correctly.

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References:

• SharePoint invitation sent to a distribution list works for only one user
• Unable to access SharePoint Online