What are the specific limits for SharePoint Sharing Links (per item/site) vs. Role Assignments?

Question

Hello,

I am looking for documentation or clarification regarding the specific limits applied to Sharing Links in SharePoint Online

I am aware of the standard limit of 50,000 unique security scopes (role assignments) per list or library: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/manage-permission-scope. However, we have observed that Sharing Links function differently from standard user/group role assignments (e.g., they persist/inherit even when permission inheritance is broken on child items).

My specific questions are:

Per-Library/Site Limit: Do sharing links count towards the 50,000 unique security scopes limit in the same way a direct user assignment does?

Global Cap: Is there a maximum number of sharing links allowed per Site Collection or Drive?

We are designing a permission auditing system and need to understand if Sharing Links have their own separate internal counters or caps distinct from the standard ACL limits.

Any official references would be greatly appreciated.

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Moved from: Microsoft 365 and Office | SharePoint | Development

Answer 1

Hi @DSR Automation, 

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum. At the moment, there isn’t official documentation that directly addresses your specific concern. However, I’ve done some research and would like to share clarification based on how SharePoint’s permission architecture works and I hope this helps.  

The Microsoft Learn article "Manage Permission Scopes in SharePoint" defines the permission scope system clearly: breaking inheritance on a file or folder creates a new permission scope that increases the scope count by 1. The official documentation states that you can have up to 50,000 unique ACLs (Access Control Lists) within a document library, though Microsoft recommends keeping it under 5,000 for optimal performance. 

When you create a sharing link (using the Copy Link or Share function), the documentation confirms that sharing actions break permission inheritance. You can also refer to this article for additional context: Understanding SharePoint Online File Sharing And When Unique Permissions Are Created 

Note: Microsoft provides these links for your convenience. The sites are not controlled by Microsoft, and we cannot make any representations regarding the quality, safety, or suitability of any information found there. Please ensure you fully understand any risks before applying suggestions from external sources. 

This means that each sharing link creation does count as a unique permission scope, because it breaks inheritance and creates a unique ACL. In other words, sharing links do count toward the 50,000 unique security scopes limit per list or library. 

Regarding your second question, there is no separate global cap for the number of sharing links per Site Collection or Drive imposed by Microsoft. However, sharing links are subject to the same 50,000 unique security scopes limit per list or library, which is the only hard constraint currently documented. 

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Please understand that as a forum moderator, my role is to assist based on public documentation, research, and community experience. Some details may not be officially published or confirmed by Microsoft, so I can’t guarantee absolute accuracy, but I hope this information is useful for your design considerations. 

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Thank you once again for your time! 

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