SharePoint to external user, but there is no Check out option

Question

The problem is our company have setup a sharepoint and grant the edit to the external user ******@domain.com.au and ******@outlook.com, however, there is no “Check out” option for both accounts, also there is no “Open in Desktop App” with ******@domain.com.au which with office 365 standard license.

Please kindly advise, thanks!

Answer 1

The external users will not be able to check out or edit the file directly. You can add the accounts to your domain first, this will allow these features. Or create a new account for them from the admin panel. They will be able to use all the functions normally for these files and future collaborative work.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/admin/add-users/about-guest-users?view=o365-worldwide#understanding-guest-accounts-in-microsoft-365

To add an external user in Microsoft Admin, you need to¹²³⁴:

1. Sign in to Microsoft Admin as an admin.
2. Go to Settings > Accounts > Other users (in some Windows editions, it may be labeled as Other people or Family & other users).
3. Under Work or school users > Add a work or school account, select Add account.
4. Enter that person's user account, select the account type, and then select Add.
5. Alternatively, you can add a user without a Microsoft account by selecting "I don't have this person's sign-in information"².
6. To configure External access, sign in to Microsoft 365 as a Global Admin and go to External collaboration settings in the Azure AD portal⁴.
7. Only trained professionals certified to modify Azure AD security should be configuring Azure AD security⁴.

Sources:

1. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/add-or-remove-accounts-on-your-pc-104dc19f-6430-4b49-6a2b-e4dbd1dcdf32
2. https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/windows/create-a-local-user-or-administrator-account-in-windows-20de74e0-ac7f-3502-a866-32915af2a34d
3. https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook_com/forum/all/how-can-i-add-external-user-to-shared-mailbox/bd1880c4-592a-4a77-a0f1-bf3a239c29d9
4. https://www.zubairalexander.com/blog/how-to-add-external-users-to-microsoft-365-for-collaboration/

Answer 2

Hi Mena,

Thank you for your advice. We have tried to add another external domain email, which works. However, the email addresses ******@domain.com.au and ******@outlook.com are not functioning properly.

Answer 3

I have tested with two domains, and these two domains are both can check out and open in desktop app.

In the SharePoint online, if users are authenticating via one-time passcode when they don't already have a work or school account or a Microsoft account, then they do not have a real AAD account and thus cannot check out and open in desktop app.

To troubleshoot this issue, here are two tips:

1.Go to Microsoft 365 admin center -> Users -> Guest users -> Add a guest user.

2.Open SharePoint Online Management Shell as administrator, run Set-SPOTenant -EnableAzureADB2BIntegration $true

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