Disabled three settings in SharePoint Online

Question

Hi,
I´m a site owner for several SP/Teams, not a SP administrator and I´m not the only owner.
For two days ago I disabled these settings on five of my sites.

Allow members to share the site and individual files and folders. Allow members to invite others to the site members group. Allow access requests.

Yesterday I received an access email which I declined but with that all three settings for that site came back. Unique permission was never created which was good but that was because I declined it.

Now I really need to know what triggered back those settings? And how to prevent that this will not happen again?

I have disabled them again, but I can´t have it like that. I also talked to the other owners and they have not sent link to that document the user wanted access to. Now it could be a member who shared, don´t know because the user don´t want to share information with me. SP/Teams are set " people with existing access" I also want to say that these five Teams is important to not have unique permissions for and we do not want members to trigger access emails. If member send a link to someone who is not a member then they should not even get the possibility to se the access button.

Can these trigger back the three setting? Can there be more?

1. A MEMBER or OWNER pressed “Share → People you choose”
2. A MEMBER tried to open a file they had NO access to
3. A MEMBER clicked a “Request access” button somewhere, maybe old email
4. A Team Owner added a new member via Microsoft Teams
5. A Private or Shared Channel was created or reconfigured

I really need help! Hope I have tagged this right. //Gabriella

Answer 1

Hi @Gabriella Talonen

Based on SharePoint and Teams behavior, the actions you listed can trigger an access request email, but they do not automatically turn the following site settings back on: 

• Allow members to share the site and individual files and folders. 
• Allow members to invite others to the site members group.  
• Allow access requests. 

These settings can only be re-enabled manually by a site owner, site collection admin, or an automated policy/script. No user action (like clicking “Request Access” or sharing a file) can turn these settings back on. Declining an access request also does not re‑enable sharing or access‑request settings. 

If you want to find out who granted permissions to your SharePoint site, please ask your IT administrator with either Microsoft Purview Audit permissions or Global Admin rights to run an audit log search for your site. This will show who made permission changes and when. 

For more details, please refer to: Search the audit log

About your questions, I'd like to clarify how these settings work: 

1. A MEMBER or OWNER pressed “Share > People you choose” 

• No. This action can generate an access request email if access requests are already enabled, but it does not re‑enable or change site‑level settings. 

2. A MEMBER tried to open a file they had NO access to 

• No. This can show a Request access option (if enabled) and send an email, but it does not modify the site’s sharing or access‑request configuration. 

3. A MEMBER clicked a “Request access” button (for example from an old link or email) 

• No. Clicking Request access only submits a request. It cannot turn sharing or access‑request settings back on. 

4. A Team Owner added a new member via Microsoft Teams 

• No. Adding a member via Teams grants access directly through the Microsoft 365 group. It does not affect SharePoint site sharing or access‑request settings. 

5. A Private or Shared Channel was created or reconfigured 

• No (for the existing site). Private and shared channels use separate SharePoint sites. Creating or modifying them does not change the settings of your main Team site, although those channel sites have their own independent settings. 

For more details, please refer to: Set up and manage access requests

Sharing & permissions in the SharePoint modern experience

Manage settings and permissions when SharePoint and Teams are integrated

Hope that clears thing up and if you have any other questions or need further assistance, feel free to ask.   

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Answer 2

SharePoint access request and sharing settings do not automatically turn themselves back on based on user actions such as clicking links, requesting access, or owners/members sharing content. They are controlled only through the site’s Access Request/Sharing configuration pages and by site collection administrators.

From the documented behavior:

• The access request feature only works if Allow access requests is enabled for the site collection or site.
• If Allow access requests is turned off, users who lack permissions see an error such as “Sorry, this site hasn't been shared with you” or “Error: Access Denied” and do not get a Request access option.
• To enable or disable these behaviors, a site owner or site collection admin must explicitly change the settings in Access Request Settings or Site Sharing; user actions (share links, Teams membership changes, opening files, etc.) do not flip these checkboxes back on.

Relevant documented settings and their behavior:

1. Allow members to share the site and individual files or folders / Allow members to invite others to the site members group
   • Controlled via Settings → Site Permissions → Advanced permission settings → Access Request Settings.
   • These options are toggled only in that dialog; they are not re-enabled by:
     • Members or owners pressing Share → People you choose.
     • Members trying to open files they do not have access to.
     • Owners adding members in Microsoft Teams.
     • Creating or reconfiguring private/shared channels.
2. Allow access requests
   • Also controlled in Access Request Settings (classic) or Settings → Site Permissions → Change how members can share → Access requests (modern).
   • When Allow access requests is off, users without permissions see an error and no Request access button.
   • When on, users are directed to a page where they can request access, and email is sent to the configured address.
   • The setting is not automatically turned on by users clicking old “Request access” links or by any of the numbered scenarios listed.

What this means for the listed triggers:

1. A MEMBER or OWNER pressed “Share → People you choose”
   • This can generate an access request only if sharing/access requests are already enabled.
   • It does not re-enable disabled sharing or access request settings.
2. A MEMBER tried to open a file they had NO access to
   • If access requests are disabled, they see an error and no request option.
   • This action does not change the configuration.
3. A MEMBER clicked a “Request access” button somewhere, maybe old email
   • If the feature is disabled, they should not see a working Request access option for that resource.
   • This does not toggle the setting back on.
4. A Team Owner added a new member via Microsoft Teams
   • This changes group membership but does not change the site’s Access Request/Sharing configuration.
5. A Private or Shared Channel was created or reconfigured
   • This creates or manages separate channel sites, but does not automatically re-enable access request or member-sharing settings on the parent site.

How to prevent this from happening again, based on documented controls:

1. Verify and lock down access request settings on each affected site
   • For classic UI:
     • Go to Settings → Site Permissions → Advanced permission settings → Access Request Settings.
     • Clear:
       • Allow members to share the site and individual files or folders.
       • Allow members to invite others to the site members group….
       • Allow access requests.
     • Select OK.
   • For modern sites:
     • Go to Settings → Site Permissions → Change how members can share.
     • Under Sharing permissions, choose the most restrictive option (for example, Only site owners can share files, folders, and the site).
     • Under Access requests, turn Allow access requests to Off.
2. Ensure the site collection admin does not re-enable access requests
   • If a site collection administrator turns Allow Access Requests back on at the site collection level, users will again see request options.
   • Coordination with the site collection admin is required to keep this disabled.
3. Confirm behavior for users without permissions
   • After disabling, test with a normal user account that has no access.
   • Expected behavior when correctly disabled: user sees an error (for example, “Sorry, this site hasn't been shared with you”) and no option to request access.

If the settings are re-enabling themselves, the documented mechanisms do not attribute this to end-user actions; it would indicate that someone with appropriate permissions (site owner or site collection admin) is changing the configuration, or that there is higher-level policy or configuration being applied outside the documented behavior.

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References:

• Set up and manage access requests
• Users without permissions to a SharePoint Online resource can't request access
• Users without permissions to a SharePoint Online resource don't receive the option to request access to the resource
• Share a site