How to See All Files You’ve Shared in SharePoint and OneDrive
Sharing is easy. Tracking what you’ve shared is harder — and matters more. The ‘Shared by me’ view in OneDrive is the answer.
What it is
OneDrive maintains a list of every file and folder you’ve personally shared, accessible from the ‘Shared by me’ view. It’s the single best place to audit your own sharing, identify stale links, and clean up access that’s no longer needed.
Most people share files dozens of times a year and never review what they’ve created. The result is a long tail of forgotten links — to ex-colleagues, completed projects, old contractors, and discontinued initiatives. Each one is a potential exposure point.
Reviewing ‘Shared by me’ takes 15 minutes a quarter and is one of the most valuable habits you can build. It’s also genuinely satisfying — you’ll be amazed how much accumulated sharing you’d forgotten about.
When to use this
- Quarterly access reviews — yours or your team’s.
- When changing roles or leaving an organisation.
- When auditing personal sharing hygiene.
- When a security event prompts review of past sharing.
How to do it
- Open OneDrive in the browser.
- In the left navigation, click Shared.
- Switch to the Shared by you view.
- Review each item — what was shared, with whom, when.
- For anything that’s no longer needed, click the file and select Manage access.
- Remove old links and individuals.
- Repeat quarterly.
Best practices
- Set a recurring 15-minute calendar block for sharing review. Once a quarter is enough.
- Start with the oldest shares. The risk increases with age — old links are forgotten links.
- Remove links rather than individual people. Disabling the link is more thorough than removing one user from it.
- Don’t keep shares ‘just in case’. If they need access again, share again. Don’t leave permissions hanging.
Common mistakes
- Never reviewing your shared files. Every active share is an active risk. Audit them.
- Trusting your memory. You’ll be surprised how much you’ve shared and forgotten.
- Ignoring shares from team sites. ‘Shared by me’ covers personal sharing — team site sharing should be reviewed at the site level.
The Copilot Readiness Guide gives you the 25-question scorecard, the 4-category risk audit, and the 30-day plan to fix permissions, content quality, and sensitive content before go-live.
Get the Copilot Readiness Guide — $39 →FAQ
How do I see all the SharePoint and OneDrive files I’ve shared?
In OneDrive, click Shared in the left navigation, then the Shared by you tab. The view shows every file you’ve shared, who has access, and which sharing link is in use. For SharePoint, the same view appears under your profile menu → My shares.
Can I revoke all my SharePoint shares at once?
Not via the standard UI — each share needs to be revoked individually through Manage Access. For bulk revocation, ask your SharePoint admin to run a script (PowerShell or Graph API) to clear external sharing on selected files. For ongoing hygiene, set quarterly reminders to review and prune.
Why is a file showing as ‘Shared by me’ that I don’t remember sharing?
Three causes: you shared it via an ‘Anyone with the link’ link you’ve forgotten; you shared a parent folder and the file inherited that sharing; or you shared via Microsoft Teams (Teams files are SharePoint files and Teams shares show up here). Open Manage Access to see the actual access path.
How often should I review my shared files in SharePoint?
Quarterly is the minimum for most employees; monthly for people who handle sensitive content. Set a recurring calendar block. Run through the Shared by you list, revoke anything stale (especially external shares, expired projects, contractors who’ve left). 15 minutes per quarter prevents most accidental data exposure.