Request Access Emails Go to the Wrong Person: OneDrive for Business Fix

You shared a OneDrive file or folder, and now someone is requesting access. But the access request email is not landing in your inbox — it goes to a different person. This happens because OneDrive sends access request notifications to the site collection administrator by default, not to the file owner. This article explains why the email goes to the wrong recipient and how to redirect it to the correct person.

The root cause is a SharePoint permission setting that controls who receives access request emails for any site. That setting is inherited from the default SharePoint site collection configuration. Changing it requires an adjustment in the SharePoint admin center or directly on the site.

You will learn how to identify the current recipient, change the email address, and verify the fix so future requests reach the right person.

Why Access Request Emails Go to the Wrong Person

OneDrive for Business is built on SharePoint. Each user’s OneDrive is a SharePoint site collection. When someone requests access to a file or folder in that site collection, SharePoint sends a notification email. By default, that email goes to the site collection administrator — not the person who shared the file.

The site collection administrator for a OneDrive is often the user themselves, but in many organizations the global admin or SharePoint admin is set as the primary site collection admin. If a SharePoint admin or another user was added as a site collection admin during provisioning, that person receives the access request emails.

There are two levels where the recipient email address is configured:

Tenant-Level Setting

In the SharePoint admin center, there is a global setting for access requests. This setting applies to all OneDrive sites unless overridden at the site level. If this field is empty, SharePoint uses the site collection administrator’s email.

Site-Level Setting

Each OneDrive site has its own access request settings. You can enter a specific email address here. This overrides the tenant-level setting for that OneDrive only.

Steps to Change the Access Request Email Recipient

You must have SharePoint admin permissions or site collection admin rights on the user’s OneDrive to complete these steps. If you are the user whose OneDrive is affected, contact your global admin or SharePoint admin.

Method 1: Change the Recipient at the Tenant Level

1. Sign in to the SharePoint admin center
   Go to admin.microsoft.com and sign in with a SharePoint admin or global admin account. In the admin center, select SharePoint from the left navigation.
2. Open the Access requests settings
   In the left menu, choose Policies then Access control. Scroll down to Access requests and click Edit.
3. Enter the email address
   In the Send access requests to the following email address field, type the email address that should receive all OneDrive access request notifications. This can be a shared mailbox or a security group. Click Save.
4. Wait for propagation
   Changes may take up to 24 hours to apply to all sites. To test immediately, proceed to Method 2 for a specific user’s OneDrive.

Method 2: Change the Recipient for a Specific OneDrive

1. Navigate to the user’s OneDrive site
   In the SharePoint admin center, go to Sites then Active sites. Find the user’s OneDrive site. The URL pattern is https://yourtenant-my.sharepoint.com/personal/username_tenant_com. Click the site name to open its details.
2. Open site permissions
   In the site details pane, click Permissions then Access requests settings.
3. Enter the recipient email
   In the Send access requests to the following email address field, type the correct email address. This overrides the tenant-level setting for this OneDrive. Click Save.
4. Verify the change
   Ask someone outside your organization or use a test account to request access to a file in that OneDrive. The request email should now go to the address you entered.

Method 3: Use PowerShell to Set the Access Request Email

If you manage many OneDrive sites, PowerShell is faster.

1. Install the SharePoint Online Management Shell
   Open PowerShell as an administrator and run Install-Module -Name Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell. If you already have it, skip this step.
2. Connect to SharePoint Online
   Run Connect-SPOService -Url https://yourtenant-admin.sharepoint.com and sign in with a SharePoint admin account.
3. Set the tenant-level access request email
   Run Set-SPOTenant -AccessRequestReceiversEmailAddress "correct@domain.com". Replace the email address with the correct one.
4. Set the site-level access request email
   Run Set-SPOSite -Identity https://yourtenant-my.sharepoint.com/personal/username_tenant_com -AccessRequestReceiversEmailAddress "correct@domain.com". Replace the URL and email as needed.

If Access Request Emails Still Go to the Wrong Person

The recipient field is empty but emails still go to someone else

When the access request email field is empty, SharePoint sends the notification to the site collection administrator. Check who is listed as site collection admin for the OneDrive site. You can view this in the SharePoint admin center under Sites > Active sites > [site name] > Permissions > Site collection administrators. If the wrong person is listed, remove them and add the correct owner.

Changes are not applying to a specific OneDrive

The site-level setting always overrides the tenant-level setting. If you set a tenant-level email but a specific OneDrive still sends emails to a different address, someone has set a site-level override. Use Method 2 to check and update the site-level setting for that OneDrive.

Access requests are disabled entirely

If the Allow access requests setting is turned off, no one can request access and no emails are sent. To enable it, go to the site’s Access requests settings and check Allow access requests. Then enter the recipient email.

Tenant-Level vs Site-Level Access Request Settings: Key Differences

Item	Tenant-Level Setting	Site-Level Setting
Scope	All OneDrive sites in the tenant	One specific OneDrive site
Where to configure	SharePoint admin center > Policies > Access control > Access requests	Site settings > Permissions > Access requests settings
Override behavior	Overridden by any site-level setting	Overrides the tenant-level setting for that site
Default when empty	Uses site collection admin email	Falls back to tenant-level setting
Propagation time	Up to 24 hours	Immediate

You now know why access request emails go to the wrong person and how to fix it using the SharePoint admin center, site settings, or PowerShell. Start by checking the site collection administrator for the affected OneDrive and then set the correct email at the site level. For ongoing management, use the tenant-level setting to define a default recipient and only override individual sites when needed.