Save and share outside your organization

With Microsoft 365, you can securely share files with people outside your organization. In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to save a Word document to OneDrive, then securely share the document with people outside your organization.

Tip: We'll use Word for this tutorial, but it works exactly the same in PowerPoint, Excel, Visio...

Select a heading below for more information

In Word on the File tab, select New
Select a template, or to start from scratch select Blank document

For more information about creating and formatting documents in Word, see Create a document in Word.

When you save your files to the cloud, you can share and collaborate with others and get to your files from anywhere - on your computer, tablet, or phone.

Tip: Saving your file to OneDrive also enables AutoSavewhich automatically saves your file as you work. One less thing for you to remember and your file is always safer and up-to-date.

Select File > Save As
Select OneDrive - <YourCompanyName>
Enter a descriptive name for the file, and then select Save

For more information about saving a document to OneDrive, see Save your document to OneDrive in Word

Tip: These same steps also work for a file that is saved in a Teams or SharePoint file library.

Select Share on the ribbon in Word
Select Share from the menu that appears
For the people you want to share with, select People in <your company> with the link can edit, then choose Specific people from the menu that appears.

Tip: If you want the other person to only be able to view the file, not change it, select the Can edit option and change it to Can view.
Select Apply.
Type the full email address of the people outside your organization.
Add an explanatory message and select Send.

Important: Adding an explanatory message reduces the chances your share message gets diverted to their junk mail folder and helps the other person understand why you're sharing it with them.

For more information about where to save files and how to share them securely see File storage and sharing.

When you share a document, the recipient receives an email from you with a link to the shared document.

Notes:

If they can’t find it, they should check their Spam or Junk Email folder.
When they click the link, they may be asked to go to a Microsoft 365 page where they’re asked to send a code to themselves. They select Send Code and then return to their Inbox, open the email, and copy the verification code. Then they return to the Microsoft 365 page, paste the code, and select Verify.

They can now select Open in the email to open the file.

An email message indicating that a file has been shared with you and including a button to open the file.