Ms Form External Organisations Access

Question

Hello Microsoft.

I was creating a MS Forms with an upload feature and created a flow for it after i completed that i realised that Microsoft has disabled sharing a form outside your Org if you want to Upload files.

Now my question how do I go about this if possible disabling this altogether because i have my own GDPR policies and don't require Microsoft to add onto that OR Can i add some external Organisations as part of my ORG and limit them to only respond top that Form if possible OR how can i go about this.

Answer 1

Dear Jay-Jay Okeiyi-Anyim,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A. 

Thanks for the clear explanation of your scenario. After checking this behavior again in several Microsoft 365 environments, I can confirm that Microsoft blocks external users from uploading files through Microsoft Forms. This is not a policy that can be disabled by an admin. It is a service‑level security restriction because file uploads are stored inside your tenant’s OneDrive/SharePoint, and Microsoft does not allow anonymous or external users to upload files directly into your internal storage.

At the moment, this setting cannot be turned off. It is not possible to “disable” the rule or override it with a custom policy. Even Global Administrators cannot change this limitation.

External organizations cannot be added as part of your org, inviting external users as guest accounts (Entra B2B) still counts them as external, and Microsoft Forms will not permit them to use the File Upload question.

Although the File Upload option cannot be enabled for external users, there are several practical workarounds you can use today depending on how you prefer to collect files:

1. SharePoint “Request Files”

This is the closest alternative to “File Upload” in Forms, and it does support external users.

You create a folder in SharePoint > choose Request Files

SharePoint generates a unique upload page. External users can upload files without needing a Microsoft account

You can include the Request Files link inside your Form (as a required step).

2. Dedicated “File Submission Email” + Power Automate

If external users can email the files:

Create a dedicated mailbox (e.g., ******@contoso.com)

Let external users send attachments

Use Power Automate to automatically:

extract attachments

save them into SharePoint

log sender information

notify your team

This method is reliable when external organizations are used to sending email attachments.

You can refer to this article: Saving email attachments to SharePoint with Power Automate

Note: Microsoft is providing this information as a convenience to you. The sites are not controlled by Microsoft. Microsoft cannot make any representations regarding the quality, safety, or suitability of any software or information found there. Please make sure that you completely understand the risk before retrieving any suggestions from the above link 

 

3. Third‑party secure upload portals

If your organization already uses a secure storage tool (Box, Dropbox, Adobe Sign, DocuSign, etc.), you can embed or link to their upload pages directly from your Form.

This works well when File sizes are large or Formal collection is required. You already pay for a secure external‑facing portal

5. Split the workflow: Forms for questions > another channel for files

Because the Forms limitation cannot be overridden, many organizations redesign the workflow: Use Microsoft Forms to collect answers and Use SharePoint Request Files or email submission for file upload. It’s simple and widely used.

I hope this information helps point you in the right direction. If you run into any issues while trying the steps, or if something still doesn’t feel quite right, please don’t hesitate to reach out again. I’ll do my best to support you however I can.  

Looking forward to hearing back from you with any updates or additional details. 

Warm regards, 

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