Creating a Sharing Report for SharePoint Sites

Report on file and folder sharing in a SharePoint site

Site administrators can create a report showing how security is configured on files and folders in SharePoint. A CSV file is created and stored in the SharePoint folder specified. (Please ensure the folder is configured to only allow those who should view the report to have access.) 

Below are instructions on how to generate the report; an explanation of the report columns may be found here https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/sharing-reports.  

1. Open the SharePoint site for which you need sharing data 

2. Click on the gear icon (Settings menu), click Site usage. 
    

   

    
    

3. Scroll down to the Shared with external users section and click Run report. 
    

   

    

4. Choose a folder to save the report, and then click Save. There will be no acknowledgement that the reporting has begun; it will run in the background.  
    
   Please note: If you try to submit another report you will get an error message: 
    

   

    

5. You will receive an email notification from “SharePoint Online no-reply@sharepointonline.com” when the sharing report has completed.  

Working with the Report 

Below are some tips to help SharePoint site administrators as they review the report.  

• The time needed to generate the report will depend upon the size of the site and other factors, but reports are usually generated within a few minutes. 

• Be aware that people who have left Northwestern, no matter how long ago, will still appear on this report. (Their access, however, is removed as part of Northwestern’s NetID policies.) 

• Some administrative accounts (please list them here) will, by default, have access to all Northwestern sites and cannot be removed by site administrators.  

• The report will show permissions granted to internal, Northwestern accounts as well as permissions granted to external third parties.  

• While this report looks at the entire SharePoint site, it’s also possible to look at access to a specific folder or document using the “Manage Access” functionality. Learn more  

Microsoft Reference

Report on sharing - SharePoint in Microsoft 365 | Microsoft Learn