How to secure your files in Microsoft SharePoint and Office 365

Have you secured your files in Microsoft SharePoint and Office 365 so that others can’t access them out of curiosity (or discovered by accident!)

It can be a little confusing to understand how permissions and security work.

Simply put, users without the adequate level of access will be denied permission to open or look at any files that require higher privileges. For example, a regular user wouldn’t be able to even find files that require admin rights.

So here are a few ways you can secure your files on SharePoint and Office 365:

1. On the SharePoint Site, set unique permissions

One easy way to secure SharePoint files is to set unique security settings for the SharePoint Site. Any files, folders and other content that is stored on this site will inherit permissions from this Site.

This means if you have folders or files within the Site, these will all automatically require the same level of permission in order to access these.

This is the easiest way to set permissions as it happens automatically for all files inside that Site.

2. Set unique permissions on the document library

Sometimes you may want to set unique permissions for a select few files. In this case, rather than using site-wide permissions, you can set unique permissions on a document library.

When this is done, the site as a whole will be able to be accessed by the appropriate users. The files inside the specific document library, will only be able to be accessed by those who have specific permission granted to them.

So in this case, it is like allowing users into your house (your house being the Site), and being able to access all the rooms except one. The door to this room will only be able to be opened by those with the right key to it (i.e. this is the document library).

Here’s how to set unique permissions:

1. Find the document library you want unique permissions on (Click the Gear Icon > Library Settings)
2. Find and click “Permissions for this document library”
3. Click “Stop Inheriting Permissions” on the top left to stop this document library from having the same permissions as the rest of the Site
4. Click OK when the warning message pops up
5. Next, select the permission levels in the checkboxes for the users you want to give access to

3. Set unique permissions on a folder

If you want to get even more granular and deeper than the document library level, you can provide unique permissions on the folder level.

Going back to our house metaphor, if the Site was the house and the document library was the room… Then we can make it so that the closet inside this room can only be accessed by a specific group of people.

The process of doing this is very similar to the method mentioned in #2.

How to set unique permissions on a folder:

1. Select the folder you wish to set permissions on by clicking the checkbox next to it
2. Click the “i” icon > then click “Manage Access”
3. There will be a popup that allows you to set individual access rights by clicking on the “down arrow” next to each person’s name
4. Or you can click “Advanced” for more options
5. If you’ve chosen to set more Advanced permissions, you’ll see the same screen from Step 3 from method #2 above
6. Click “Stop Inheriting Permissions” on the top left
7. Click OK when the warning message appears
8. Finally, select the permission levels you’d like to grant for each user

4. Use OneDrive

The other option is to use your Microsoft OneDrive account to store sensitive content.

By default, everything on your OneDrive folder is private until you share it with someone directly.

You can also control exactly who you're going to share any folders or files with.

There are two ways of sharing access in OneDrive

Sharing

This will allow you to specifically choose individuals who will be able to view or edit any of your files.

To share:

1. Right click the document and click Share
2. On the next window, type in the names of the people you want to share this file with
3. Select either "can edit" or "can view" depending on if you want to allow them to edit the file, or to just view it only
4. Fill out a message that will go to these users and will let them know why / what you've shared with them

Linking

Linking is an easy way to grant access to a specific file on OneDrive. It provides you with a link that you can send via email or instant messenger, and anyone with that link will be able to view or edit it (depending on which you choose).

To provide links:

1. Right-click the file and click "Get a link"
2. On the next screen, select either edit or view permissions, depending on which you prefer. There are several options that you can choose from depending on how strict you want permissions to be.

Do you need help setting up SharePoint for your business?

At Result IT, we are Microsoft’s Silver Midmarket Solution Provider, meaning we’re experts in helping you set up SharePoint.

We can assist with any technical aspects and can also help set up SharePoint to run smoothly for your business.

Plus, we’re also offering a special $20 discount to all readers of our blog and newsletter!

If you’d like to get SharePoint installed, just get in touch with us and tell us you read our blog or newsletter, and we’ll immediately discount $20 off any quoted costs.

You can contact us here, or call us at (09) 526 1800.

We’re located at:

67 Station Road East,

Penrose, Auckland.