Folks accessing folders/files on Sharepoint Online by searching when folders/files are locked down!

Question

I have come across a very odd situation today and im hoping someone can help me out.

I am the admin of our Sharepoint Online site at the company i work for and i was made aware of an issue that has probably been happening for a while now and i need to resolve it ASAP!

I only give access to folders/files upon request so that folks cant access things that either have nothing to do with them or if they are very private things like accounting stuff for example.

Apparently by simply using the search bar at the top, folks can find whatever they want, then access said item they searched for even though they do not have normal access to the item, whether its a folder or a file.

How is it possible that the search bar is overriding the permissions for folders/files?

Ive gone through the admin portal and i cant find anything that would allow folks to simply search for a folder/file, access it and edit it if they wanted!

Hopefully someone here can help me out!

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Hi @Shane Siegfried,

I'm sure that SharePoint Online search results only show content that a user has permission to see. Is it possible for users to obtain permissions in other ways besides what you grant in your organization? You can have a test, for example, there is a file A which the user shouldn't have access but shown in the search result. Check the permissions user has to file A via Manage Access >> Advanced settings >> Check Permissions.

If the user has other permissions to the file, someone else in your organization must have given him the permissions.

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