“Sharing Is Limited on This Item” in SharePoint and OneDrive: Causes and Fixes

A member of one of our client sites messaged me after a team meeting: they wanted to share the recording with a colleague who had missed it, but SharePoint wouldn’t let them. Instead of the usual share box, they saw this message:

“Sharing is limited on this item. You can only copy links for people who have existing access and you can’t invite anyone new.”

You can recognise the problem straight away because the dialog title changes to Ask owner to share. The person can still copy a link, but it only works for people who already have access, and the Send option doesn’t do what they expect. In our case, the cause turned out to be a single site setting, and it took a minute to fix.

Quick answer: The site is usually set so that only site owners can share. A site owner fixes it under Settings (gear) > Site permissions > Change how members can share by choosing one of the first two Sharing permissions options and selecting Save. If the message stays, check that Allow access requests is turned on and that an admin hasn’t restricted sharing for the site.

In this tutorial, I’ll explain every cause of this message I’ve come across, starting with the most common one, and show you how to fix each of them in SharePoint Online and OneDrive.

Why does SharePoint say “Sharing is limited on this item”?

You see this message when you open Share on a file or folder that you’re not allowed to share with anyone new. Site owners and SharePoint admins rarely see it, because they can always share; it’s members and visitors who run into it. These are the causes, roughly in the order I’d check them:

Cause	Who can fix it
The site only allows site owners to share files, folders and the site	A site owner
Access requests are turned off for the site	A site owner
Limited-access user permission lockdown mode is turned on	A site collection admin
An admin blocked sharing for non-owners with PowerShell	A SharePoint admin
You’re sharing with someone outside the organization and the site doesn’t allow it	A SharePoint admin
Restricted site access is on and sharing outside the control group is blocked	A SharePoint admin

Fix 1: Change how members can share

In most cases I see, a site owner has chosen Only site owners can share files, folders, and the site, often without realising the effect it has on everyone else. To change it, the site owner opens the site, selects Settings (the gear icon) in the top-right corner, and then selects Site permissions.

In the Permissions panel, look for the Site Sharing heading and select Change how members can share.

Under Sharing permissions, choose one of the first two options, then select Save:

• Site owners and members can share files, folders, and the site. People with Edit permissions can share files and folders.
• Site owners and members, and people with Edit permissions can share files and folders, but only site owners can share the site.

I usually recommend the second option. Members can share the files and folders they work on, but only owners can invite new people to the whole site, which keeps site membership under control.

Once you’ve saved, ask the member to close the share box and open Share again. The message is gone, and they can type a name and select Send. Microsoft describes these settings in Set up and manage access requests.

Fix 2: Turn on Allow access requests

If the sharing permissions already look right, check the Access requests section in the same panel. When Allow access requests is turned off, members can also end up with the “Sharing is limited” message and a greyed-out Send button. A Microsoft community moderator confirmed this cause on Microsoft Q&A, and it matches what I’ve seen on client sites.

To turn it on, go back to Settings > Site permissions > Change how members can share, switch on Allow access requests, and choose who should receive the requests: the site owners, or a Specific email address such as a shared mailbox. You can also add a custom message that people see when they ask for access. Then select Save.

On sites connected to a Microsoft 365 group, including every Teams site, access requests go to the group owners by default, so make sure those owners know to expect them.

Fix 3: Turn off Limited-access user permission lockdown mode

Some sites have a site collection feature called Limited-access user permission lockdown mode turned on. It greys out sharing options for people who only have limited access to the site, and Microsoft covers it in Sharing options are grayed out when sharing from SharePoint Online or OneDrive.

A site collection admin can turn it off. Go to Settings > Site information > View all site settings, and under Site Collection Administration, select Site collection features. Find Limited-access user permission lockdown mode in the list and select Deactivate.

Fix 4: Check the settings a SharePoint admin controls

When the site settings are all correct and the message still appears, the restriction is probably coming from an admin setting. These are the three I check.

Sharing blocked for non-owners with PowerShell

A SharePoint admin can stop everyone except site owners from inviting new people with a single PowerShell command. It has the same effect as the “only site owners” option, but it doesn’t show up in the site’s own settings panel, which makes it easy to miss:

Set-SPOSite -Identity https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/Finance -DisableSharingForNonOwners

If none of the site settings explain the message, ask your SharePoint admin whether this switch is set on the site. Our SharePoint PowerShell tutorials show how to connect with the SharePoint Online Management Shell if you manage sites yourself.

External sharing level

When the person you’re inviting is outside your organization, the site has to allow guests. A site’s sharing setting can match the organization’s setting or be stricter, but never more open. Admins control it in three places:

• For the whole organization, in the SharePoint admin center under Policies > Sharing. The levels are Anyone, New and existing guests, Existing guests and Only people in your organization.
• For one site, under Sites > Active sites, then select the site and open Settings > More sharing settings.
• For a person’s OneDrive, in the Microsoft 365 admin center under Users > Active users, then select the user and open OneDrive > Manage external sharing.

Keep in mind that communication sites and team sites without a Microsoft 365 group are set to Only people in your organization by default. Microsoft explains the details in Manage sharing settings and Change the sharing settings for a site.

Restricted site access

If your organization uses restricted site access control, part of SharePoint Advanced Management, and sharing outside the control groups is blocked, only people in the site’s control group can share its content. An admin can check this under Active sites, by selecting the site and opening Settings > Restricted site access.

What about Teams sites and private channels?

For a SharePoint site connected to Microsoft Teams, it’s best to manage membership in Teams rather than in SharePoint. The sites behind private and shared channels show their permissions as read-only in SharePoint, so if someone can’t share a file from a channel, change who has access from the channel itself in Teams.

Still seeing the message?

If you’ve worked through the fixes above and the message is still there, try these quick checks before digging deeper:

• Close the share box and open it again, or sign out and back in. Changes to sharing settings can take a few minutes to apply.
• Check that the person is a member of the site, not a visitor. Visitors only have Read permission and can’t share.
• Ask a site owner to share the item for you. The Ask owner to share box sends them the request directly.
• If only one file is affected, check that file’s own permissions by selecting it and choosing Manage access.

These SharePoint permission and sharing guides may also help:

• SharePoint Online List Permissions: Step‑by‑Step Guide for Unique, Item‑Level & Anonymous Access
• How to Give Unique Permissions For a SharePoint Library
• Share SharePoint Site With External Users and Anonymous Users
• Access Requests in SharePoint Online
• Your Organization’s Policies Don’t Allow You To Share With These Users While Sharing Files In SharePoint Online
• Add Users to a SharePoint Site [From Your Organization]

Frequently Asked Questions