Settings interactions between Microsoft 365 Groups, Teams and SharePoint
Some settings for Microsoft 365 Groups, Microsoft Teams, and SharePoint in Microsoft 365, particularly related to sharing and group/team and SharePoint site creation, overlap with each other. This article provides descriptions of these interactions and best practices for how to work with these settings.
The effects of SharePoint settings on groups and teams
| SharePoint setting | Description | Effect on Microsoft 365 groups and Teams | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
| External sharing for organization and site | Determines if sites, files, and folders can be shared with people outside the organization. | If SharePoint, groups, and Teams settings don't match, guests in the team may be blocked from accessing the site, or unexpected external access may occur. | When changing sharing settings, check Groups settings, Teams settings, and SharePoint site settings for group-connected team sites. See Collaborate with guests in a team |
| Domain allow/block | Allows or prevents content being shared with specified domains. | Groups and Teams do not recognize SharePoint allowlists or blocklists. Users from domains disallowed in SharePoint could gain access to SharePoint sites or content through a team. | Manage domain allowlists or blocklists for Azure AD and SharePoint together. Create an org-wide governance process for allowing and blocking domains. See SharePoint domain settings and Azure AD domain settings |
| Allow only users in specific security groups to share externally | Specifies security groups who can share SharePoint sites, folders, and files externally. | This setting does not prevent team owners from sharing teams externally. Team guests have access to the associated SharePoint site. | |
| SharePoint site sharing settings | Determines who can share the site directly outside of team membership. This is configured by the team or site owner. | This setting does not affect the team directly, but it can allow users to be added to a site and not have access to the team itself or other Teams resources | Consider using this setting to limit sharing of the site directly and manage site access through the team. |
| Let users create sites from the SharePoint start page and OneDrive | Specifies if users can create new SharePoint sites. | If this setting is turned off, users can still create group-connected team sites by creating a team. |
The effects of groups settings on teams
| Microsoft 365 groups setting | Description | Effect on Teams | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Naming policies | Specifies group name prefixes and suffixes, and blocked words for group creation | Policies are enforced for users creating teams. | |
| Group guest access | Specifies if people outside the organization can be added to groups. | If either the groups or Teams guest sharing settings are off, the team cannot be shared with guests. | When changing guest sharing settings, check the settings for Teams, Groups, and the SharePoint site associated with the team. See Collaborate with guests in a team |
| Group creation by security group | Groups can only be created by members of a specific security group. | Users who are not members of the security group will not be able to create a team. | Be sure your process for requesting a group includes instructions for requesting a team or a SharePoint site. |
| Group expiration policy | Specifies a time period after which groups that are not actively used will be automatically deleted. | When the group is deleted, the team and associated SharePoint site are also deleted. Content protected by retention policies is retained. | Use expiration policies to avoid sprawl of unused teams, groups and sites. |
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