SharePoint Stop sharing has changed. Bug or new behavior?

Brian Mair 20 Reputation points
2026-09-30T05:37:44.4066667+00:00

Previously, a user with Contribute permission in a document library could upload a file, share it, and subsequently stop sharing it.

Sharing the file created unique permissions, meaning that it no longer inherited permissions from its parent library. If the user then selected Stop sharing, the file’s permissions were reset and inheritance from the parent library was restored.

This behaviour appears to have changed very recently. The user with Contribute permission who shared the file can no longer stop sharing it because the Stop sharing button is disabled.

A user with Full Control can still stop sharing the file. However, doing so removes permissions for everyone except the site owners group, rather than restoring the inherited permissions.

A user brought this to my attention after accidentally sharing a file with the wrong person and discovering that they could not undo the action.

Has anyone else observed this change, or can anyone confirm that this is new behaviour?

Microsoft 365 and Office | SharePoint | For business | Other
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  1. AI answer

    2026-09-30T05:37:59.3233333+00:00

    The behavior described is consistent with the documented SharePoint permissions model.

    When a file or folder is shared individually, SharePoint automatically breaks inheritance for that item, copies the inherited permissions to the item, and adds permissions for the people it was shared with. After that, changes made to the parent are not applied to that item automatically.

    The documented behavior for folder and item sharing is also that sharing only adds or grants permissions; it does not remove or restrict existing permissions. For content with unique permissions, stopping access does not imply that inheritance will automatically be restored.

    What is documented:

    1. Sharing an individual item breaks inheritance automatically.
    2. Existing permissions are copied to the item.
    3. Additional shared users are added.
    4. To remove access, permissions must be changed directly on the item, or sharing/direct access must be removed.
    5. If inheritance needs to be restored, that is a separate advanced permissions action from the permissions page.

    Supported ways to address the scenario:

    1. Open the file’s Manage access or Sharing details.
    2. Under Direct Access, select the person and change permissions or remove direct access.
    3. If the item should go back to inheriting from the library, open Manage access > Advanced settings and use the ribbon option to reset inheritance.

    Important detail: documentation states that when a user shares a folder containing items with unique permissions, SharePoint does not remove or restrict existing permissions; it only grants additional permissions. That aligns with the result where access is not simply reverted by a basic stop-sharing action.

    Based on the available documentation, this is not documented as a new change in behavior. The supported model is that:

    • Stop sharing / remove direct access removes the share or direct permission.
    • Restore inheritance is a separate permissions operation.

    The specific point about a Contribute user previously being able to use Stop sharing and now seeing it disabled is not confirmed in the provided documentation. The documentation only supports that permission changes can be made for direct access entries, and that advanced inheritance reset is a separate action.

    References:

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  2. Hani-Ng 2,070 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-09-30T05:55:24.2733333+00:00

    Hi Brian Mair

    You can refer to AI's answer for the detailed explanation of how sharing and permission inheritance work in SharePoint.

    I would just add that based on my research, there is currently no Microsoft documentation or announcement confirming the behavior you observed, specifically a user with Contribute permission now seeing Stop sharing disabled after sharing a file, as a new intentional change. Microsoft's current guidance continues to provide Manage access for managing sharing links and direct access to SharePoint files and folders.

    For more information, you can refer to:

    Manage sharing and permissions in OneDrive and SharePoint | Microsoft Support

    External or guest sharing in OneDrive, SharePoint, and Lists | Microsoft Support

    Since you mentioned that this worked differently until very recently, if the behavior can be reproduced with multiple users/files and there have been no changes to the site's permissions or tenant sharing settings, it would be worth opening a support request through the Microsoft 365 admin center. The support team can check the service-side information for the tenant and confirm whether this is related to a recent service change or an unexpected issue.

    For further instructions, you can follow this guide: Get support - Microsoft 365 admin | Microsoft Learn.   

    I hope this information helps.

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