MSFT forms available to anyone still requires login (2026))

Share the original URL from Microsoft Forms → Collect responses → Copy link, not the SharePoint library shortcut’s Share command, because SharePoint shares the shortcut item under SharePoint permissions rather than forwarding the public Forms response URL.

Where the sign-in requirement is introduced

Your direct Forms URL already works anonymously, so the form’s respondent configuration is correct. Anyone can respond permits people inside or outside the organization to access and submit the form ^1^.

When you select Share on the shortcut in the SharePoint library, SharePoint generates a new sharing URL for the shortcut item. That URL has its own SharePoint link type:

• Anyone — no authentication required.
• People in your organization — requires organizational sign-in.
• Specific people — requires authentication as the specified recipient. ^2^

The collaboration and template settings in Forms do not control respondent authentication. They govern editing or duplicating the form, not opening its response link.

Recommended resolution

1. Open the form in Microsoft Forms.
2. Select Collect responses.
3. Leave Anyone can respond selected.
4. Select Copy link.
5. Distribute that URL directly through email, chat, or another public-facing location.

Microsoft specifically documents copying and distributing the unique link from Collect responses ^1^. Since that exact URL already succeeds in your private-window test, no form recreation or settings toggle is indicated.

Confirm the trigger

Compare the two links before opening them:

• The working link is the URL copied from Forms.
• The failing link generated by the library’s Share command is a SharePoint sharing URL.

If the shared URL points to SharePoint rather than directly to Forms, recipients must first satisfy the shortcut item’s SharePoint permissions. The shortcut’s destination being public does not make the SharePoint item public.

If the shortcut itself must be shared

In the library:

1. Select the shortcut.
2. Select Share → Link settings.
3. Check whether Anyone is available.
4. If available, select Anyone, apply the setting, and copy the newly generated SharePoint link.

A SharePoint Anyone link does not require authentication ^2^. If Anyone is absent or disabled, the tenant or site does not currently permit that sharing level; SharePoint applies both organization-level and site-level external-sharing controls, with the more restrictive setting taking precedence ^3^. Your SharePoint administrator would need to review those settings.

Even in that case, the simplest supported approach remains distributing the direct Forms response URL, because it bypasses the separately secured SharePoint shortcut entirely.

References

1. Share a form | Microsoft Support
2. How shareable links work in OneDrive and SharePoint in Microsoft 365
3. Overview of external sharing in SharePoint and OneDrive in Microsoft 365