How to Revoke OneDrive Access After a Project Ends

When a project ends, you need to remove external collaborators or internal team members from shared OneDrive folders and files. Leaving access active creates a security risk because former project members can still view, edit, or download company data. This article explains how to revoke OneDrive sharing links, remove specific people from shared items, and clean up permissions at the folder level. You will also learn how to check for remaining access and apply a retention hold if needed.

What Happens to Shared Permissions When a Project Ends

OneDrive sharing permissions are stored per file and per folder. When you share a folder with someone, that person can access all contents inside that folder. Removing them from the parent folder does not automatically remove access to subfolders they were individually invited to. Each sharing invitation is independent.

OneDrive also generates sharing links that can be set to Anyone, People in your organization, or Specific people. After a project ends, links set to Anyone or People in your organization remain active until you delete them. The link itself is not tied to a project end date. You must manually stop sharing each link or remove each user.

If the project used a Microsoft 365 Group for collaboration, removing a user from the group also removes their access to the associated SharePoint site and OneDrive folders synced through that group. But for individual OneDrive folders shared directly, group membership does not affect those permissions.

Steps to Revoke OneDrive Access After a Project Ends

The following steps cover the most common scenarios: removing a specific person, deleting a sharing link, and cleaning up an entire folder.

Remove a Specific Person from a File or Folder

1. Open OneDrive in your browser
   Go to onedrive.live.com and sign in with your work or school account.
2. Navigate to the shared item
   Browse to the file or folder that was shared with the project member you want to remove.
3. Right-click the item and select Share
   Alternatively, click the circle that appears next to the item when you hover over it, then click the Share button at the top of the page.
4. Click the three dots next to the person’s name
   In the Share dialog, you will see a list of people who currently have access. Click the three dots to the right of the person you want to remove.
5. Select Stop sharing
   This removes that person’s access to the item immediately. The person will no longer see the item in their OneDrive or be able to open it via a direct link.

Delete a Sharing Link

1. Open the Info pane
   Select the file or folder. On the right side of the page, click the Info icon (an i in a circle) to open the details pane.
2. Click Manage access
   This shows all sharing links and people with access to the item.
3. Find the link you want to delete
   Links are listed under the Links heading. Each link shows its type, such as Anyone with the link or People in your organization.
4. Click the three dots next to the link and select Delete link
   This immediately deactivates the link. Anyone who previously used that link will no longer be able to access the item.

Remove All External Access from a Folder at Once

1. Select the folder in OneDrive
   Click the circle next to the folder name to select it.
2. Click the Details pane icon
   In the toolbar at the top, click the Details icon (a rectangle with a pencil) to open the details pane.
3. Click Manage access
   This opens the Manage access panel showing all people and links for that folder.
4. Click the X next to each external user
   For each person you want to remove, click the X icon next to their name. Confirm the removal when prompted.
5. Delete all sharing links
   Click the three dots next to each link and select Delete link. Repeat for every link in the list.

If OneDrive Still Shows Access After You Revoke It

Sometimes a removed person still appears in the Manage access list or can still open a file. This usually happens because the person was added to a parent folder or a different shared location that also contains the file.

The person was added to a parent folder

Check the parent folder that contains the file or subfolder you just cleaned. Open that parent folder, go to Manage access, and remove the person there. Removing someone from a parent folder does not automatically remove them from child items they were individually invited to. You must remove them from each level separately.

A sharing link remains active

If you deleted a person but kept a sharing link set to Anyone or People in your organization, the person can still access the item through that link. Delete all sharing links as described in the steps above. To see all links for a file, open the Info pane and click Manage access.

The person was added via a Microsoft 365 Group

If the project used a Microsoft 365 Group, removing the person from the OneDrive folder does not remove their group membership. Go to the Microsoft 365 admin center, navigate to Groups, select the project group, and remove the person from the group. This revokes access to all group resources, including the associated SharePoint site and any OneDrive folders synced through the group.

OneDrive Shared Permissions: Direct vs Link-Based Access

Item	Direct Access	Link-Based Access
How access is granted	User is added by email address to the share list	A URL is created and shared; anyone with the URL can open the item
How to revoke	Remove the user from the Manage access list	Delete the link in the Manage access panel
Visibility in OneDrive	Item appears in the Shared section of the user’s OneDrive	Item does not appear unless the user bookmarks the link
Best for	Known project members who need ongoing access	Temporary sharing with external partners or large groups

After a project ends, you should remove both direct access and link-based access. Direct access removal prevents the person from finding the file in their OneDrive. Link deletion prevents anyone who saved the link from reopening the file.

Conclusion

You can now revoke OneDrive access for former project members by removing them from the Manage access list and deleting all sharing links. For folders shared with multiple people, use the Details pane to bulk-remove users in one session. If you need to preserve the project data for compliance, apply a retention label in the Microsoft 365 compliance center before revoking access. As an advanced tip, use the OneDrive admin center to run an access review report that shows all external users with access to your OneDrive files.