Sharing Business Data from Business Central

Collaboration among people inside and outside an organization is integral part of most businesses. Business Central offers several features for sharing business data, like a list of records, specific records, or documents.

With all these features, access to data is protected by the license and permissions of Business Central.

Copying a link

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From any page, you can copy the page's URL, then paste and distribute it in other forms of media like emails, Teams chats, or text messages. The easiest way to copy a link is by selecting Share > Copy Link from the top of the page. Another way is to copy the URL directly from the browser's address box.

When you paste the URL into a rich text editor like Word, Outlook, or Teams, instead of displaying the full URL, the link is given a more readable name that clearly indicates context of the target. The name and pattern vary depending on what page you're linking to. Consider the following examples:

Pattern	Page example	Link name
List pages	Items list page	Items
List view	Open filtered view on Sales Orders list	Sales Orders - Open
Single record	Item card showing single record	"Item Card - 1896 ∙ ATHENS Desk"
Draft records	New customer card	New - Customer card
Company that uses badge	Items list page for company with badge CRONUS	Items (CRONUS)

Tip

A similar naming convention is used on browser tabs.

Share data analysis

If you're viewing a page or query in the data analysis mode, you can share a specific analysis tab by selecting the down arrowhead on the tab, and then selecting Copy link. Learn more about data analysis mode.

Modify the page link

After you copy a link, before you send it, you can modify the URL to manipulate what shows when the page opens. You can, for example, add filters or specify a different company.

Learn more about the web client URL.

About filtered lists

Using the filter pane on list pages, you can apply filters to narrow-down the records shown in the list. If you use the Copy Link action or copy the URL from the browser, the page link won't include your filter changes. Users that open the link see the full collection. The way to keep the filtering on a collection page link is to save the filtered page as a View first. Then, open the view and copy the link from there.

Learn more about sorting, searching, and filtering.

Sharing to Teams

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Directly from most collection pages and details pages, you can send a link to the page to people, group chats or channels. For example, share a link to a filtered view of your records. If you've installed the Business Central app for Teams, the link will automatically expand into a compact card for you to include with your message. Recipients then select the link or card to open the page in Business Central.

Learn more about sharing records and page links in Teams.

Sharing Through OneDrive

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Business Central makes it easy to store, manage, and share files with other people through OneDrive for Business. On most pages where files are available, such as the Report Inbox or files that are attached to records, you find the Open in OneDrive and Share actions. Both actions save a copy of a file to OneDrive. Once in OneDrive, you can use its sharing and contribution features on the file. The difference in the actions is that Open in OneDrive opens the file in OneDrive. Share opens a page the let's you select who you want to share the file with. Recipients get a notification email to access the file from your OneDrive.

Learn more about sharing files in OneDrive.

Opening in Excel

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For list pages and lists embedded on a page, you can use the Open in Excel action. This action exports the list of records to an Excel workbook (.xlsx file), which you can share with others. In the workbook, you can also use the Share feature that's part of Excel.

Learn more about viewing and editing in Excel.

Sharing rows or tables

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You can share one or more records in a list. Just select the Ctrl+C keyboard shortcut to copy to your clipboard. Then paste what you copied into another application by pressing Ctrl+V. For example, copying three sales orders and pasting that into an email will display the orders in a nicely formatted table.

Learn more about copy and paste in theFAQ.

See also

Business Central and OneDrive Integration
Managing OneDrive Integration with Business Central
OneDrive FAQ