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Home » AI Learning Center » How Do We Expire Old Shares?

How to Expire Old Shares

Old shares are the silent killer of Microsoft 365 security. Every “anyone with the link” share, every guest invite from two years ago, every project folder shared with a vendor who finished the job in 2023 – they all just sit there, quietly accessible. Cleaning them up isn’t hard, but you do have to be intentional about it.
The easy fix going forward – set expiration defaults:
  • Open the SharePoint Admin Center → Policies → Sharing
  • Set "Anyone" link expiration to 30, 60, or 90 days
  • Set guest access expiration to auto-remove inactive guests after 60 days
  • Require re-authentication on shared links
For existing old shares – clean them up:
  • Run the Shared with External Users report in SharePoint Admin Center
  • Use Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management for bulk reviews
  • Pull the Sharing Links report to find old "anyone" links and revoke them
  • Check Entra ID (Azure AD) guest accounts and remove dormant ones

Empower owners. Site owners get nudged automatically through Microsoft 365 access reviews – they can confirm or revoke access without IT being a bottleneck.

Make it routine. Set a quarterly calendar reminder. Or hand it to your MSP to manage. Old shares don’t clean themselves up.

Less sprawl. Tighter security. Safer Copilot.

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