Receiving unsolicited OneDrive File/Folder shares, how do I stop it?

Question

Recently strangers (AI driven bots) have started sending me emails sharing links to their Microsoft Onedrives!

How do I stop this from happening?

Are there any security concerns (Viruses/Malware)?

Am I liable if they attempt to share any illegal content?

I receive the Email into my junk folder which I can't stop and then I get a Onedrive notification of the file/folder share. What can I do?

Thank you very much for any advice.

Regards

Phil

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Answer 1

Hello Phillip Confused,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum!

I understand that you have confusion when receiving OneDrive share notifications. That's very understandable and believe me you're not alone. I am here to help you out.

As your description, someone share OneDrive files with your Microsoft account email and Microsoft sends notifications by default. With this case, Are there security concerns?

Yes, potential risks exist:

• The shared links could lead to malicious files (viruses, ransomware, phishing).
• Clicking the link or downloading files could compromise your device.

Best practice:

• Do NOT click any links from unknown senders.
• Ignore or delete the notifications.
• Keep your antivirus and Microsoft Defender up to date.

Are you liable if they share illegal content?

No, you are not liable just for receiving a share. Liability only arises if you download, store, or redistribute illegal content. Simply ignoring or deleting the share keeps you safe.

Therefore, I have these suggestions for you:

1. Block the sender’s email

In Outlook.com or Outlook app, add the sender to your Blocked Senders list.

This will stop future email notifications from that address.

2. Disable OneDrive share notifications

Go to OneDrive Settings > Notifications: Uncheck “Someone shares files with me”.

This stops the in-app pop-up notifications (but not the email unless blocked).

3. Report the share

In the OneDrive web interface:

Open Shared > Files shared with you.

Select the suspicious share > Remove.

Optionally click Report abuse.

4. Enable stricter spam filtering

In Microsoft 365 Security & Compliance Center (if you have a paid plan): Add rules to quarantine external sharing notifications.

I hope this will help with your situation. Please feel free to reach back if you have further update or more questions.

Best Regards,

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Answer 2

Thank you all very much for your help and assistance.

I guess my biggest concern was with Viruses and Malware, but as these can't be activated remotely, I'm much more relaxed.

I've also found other links and support on Microsoft.com, apparently you can't stop random people or AI bots sending out links and it's impossible to block them all.

The ANSWER!!!

The only thing you can do, is to turn off notifications and not stress about something you can't stop/change.

Kindest Regards,

Phil.

Answer 3

This is an extremely disappointing situation and a time waster. Surely Microsoft can get on top of this. I also find that I am getting scam emails with Calendar Invites.

Answer 4

This is very annoying, especially that there is no way of selecting all files and reporting them in 1 step. You have to go and manually report and hide each of those files individually. I just spent 15 minutes getting rid of around 50 spam-shared files