How do I change the ownership of a file in Sharepoint

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How do I change the ownership of a file in Sharepoint

Wilhelm, Céline [CILCH] 0

Hi,

I would like to assign a owner to a file in Sharepoint so that she gets notified whenever there are new comments. I already tried copy/moving the existing doc, but it did not work. Is there any other option?

Thank you in advance!

Céline

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Answer 1

Marcin Policht 82,355 MVP Volunteer Moderator

AFAIK, SharePoint doesn’t really have a true “file owner notification for comments” feature the way tasks or Planner items do. Alternatives are based on alerts, rules, or Power Automate.

If the person just needs notifications when anything changes on that file (including comments saved into the document), open the file in SharePoint, click the three dots, choose “Alert me,” and configure alerts for changes. You can also create an alert from the document library and scope it to a single file. This is simple but not comment-specific because SharePoint treats many edits the same way.

Details at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/create-an-alert-to-get-notified-when-a-file-or-folder-changes-in-sharepoint-e5a79e7b-a146-46da-a9ef-d65409ba8918

If the file is a modern Office document with threaded comments (Word, Excel, PowerPoint stored in SharePoint/OneDrive), a direct way is to mention the person inside the comment using @mentions. That triggers notifications automatically and is the closest built-in “comment notification” behavior without extra setup.

If you need automatic notifications specifically when comments are added and without relying on manual mentions, use Power Automate. Create a flow triggered by file changes or when a file is modified, then add a condition that checks comment-related properties if available or sends a notification whenever the file is updated. An example trigger would be:

Trigger: When a file is modified (properties only)
Site Address: <site>
Library Name: <library>

Then add an action like:

Action: Send an email (V2)
To: <user>
Subject: File updated or commented
Body: The file <filename> was updated. Check for new comments.

If the above response helps answer your question, remember to "Accept Answer" so that others in the community facing similar issues can easily find the solution. Your contribution is highly appreciated.

hth

Marcin

Wilhelm, Céline [CILCH] 0 Reputation points

2026-02-11T15:02:27.5433333+00:00

Thanks a lot Marcin!

Unfortunately alerts will be retired as of July 2026, but I'll look into the Power Automate

I would still be interested in how I can change the owner of a file. Is there any solution for that as well?

Sometimes the owners are not in the role anymore and I would like to add someone else as the owner of that file.
Marcin Policht 82,355 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-02-11T15:11:14.61+00:00

Refer to

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5218656/change-ownership-of-a-file

If the above response helps answer your question, remember to "Accept Answer" so that others in the community facing similar issues can easily find the solution. Your contribution is highly appreciated.

hth

Marcin
Wilhelm, Céline [CILCH] 0 Reputation points

2026-02-11T15:51:32.4233333+00:00

Okay thank you!
One more question to your previous reply: Whenever someone comments on one of my docs, I get an email even though I've never added alerts. Why is that then?
Marcin Policht 82,355 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-02-11T17:41:47.4366667+00:00

AFAIK, that happens because modern Microsoft 365 documents have built-in collaboration notifications that are separate from SharePoint alerts. When someone comments in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files stored in SharePoint or OneDrive, the system automatically emails people who are considered participants in the document. Participants typically include the file creator, people who edited the file, people it’s shared with, or anyone previously involved in comment threads. You don’t need to configure anything manually because these notifications come from the Office co-authoring and commenting service, not from SharePoint’s alert feature.

You will also automatically receive emails if someone replies to a comment thread you were part of, resolves a comment you created, or mentions you using @mentions. In some tenants, Microsoft also sends “activity” notifications to recent editors even without mentions so collaboration doesn’t get missed. That’s why you see emails despite never setting alerts.

If you want to confirm or adjust this behavior, open a document in Word or Excel for the web, go to Settings or Notifications in your Microsoft 365 profile, and check comment and activity notification preferences. The exact controls depend on tenant configuration, but typically they’re managed through Office notification settings rather than SharePoint library settings.

If the above response helps answer your question, remember to "Accept Answer" so that others in the community facing similar issues can easily find the solution. Your contribution is highly appreciated.

hth

Marcin

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How do I change the ownership of a file in Sharepoint

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