How to set up email notifications for when changes are made to a shared document: Microsoft 365

OneDrive offers a vast array of different features to allow users to both manage and share files across to other users in a network. You may find that shared documents can result in changes being made by other colleagues. While you can disable this feature, some administrators may want to allow for users to make changes, however, they may want to have a setup that allows for an alert to be sent if changes are made. If you’re working on a shared file in your OneDrive storage account with others and want to know when someone makes a change, you can create an alert schedule that will inform you when any changes are made. Unfortunately, the alert function isn’t yet embedded in the contemporary version of OneDrive, so you’ll have to go to the “old” interface for a few moments to set up your alarm. Because many functionalities are still available and helpful for users on the original version, Microsoft has decided to keep it. If you need to use features like the alert feature, which is available within the traditional OneDrive program, you may switch between modes at any moment. Follow the steps below to see how you can set up email notifications for when changes are made to a shared document.

Step by step process – How to set up email notifications for when changes are made to a shared document:

  • First, sign into your Microsoft 365 account.
  • Click the app launcher icon to reveal more applications.
  • Then select “OneDrive” from the list of apps.
  • Go to the bottom of the left menu and click “Return to classic OneDrive.”
  • Search for the shared document that you want to create an alert for.
  • Then click the document in the results dialog box.
  • Next, click on “Alert Me” at the top.
  • Select your preferred alert settings, such as where to send the alerts.
  • Then click the “OK” button.

The above method is the simplest method available to users who have access to OneDrive, they don’t need to worry about the classic drive disappearing because there are still quite a few features available within that does not warrant permanent removal of the classic software. You can use a mail flow alert to set notifications, this can be done from the modern Exchange or PowerShell platforms. Once the alert is set, you can have all changes reported to you by mail if necessary. 

You can download the document to view the changes assuming the document owner has not set the permission to disable downloads of shared content. You can also view the changes directly from this alert mail or on OneDrive. If the changes are correct you can discard the email and if not you can go back and edit the document to ensure it’s correct.

You can revert back to an older version if changes are completely wrong, this can be associated with multiple people working on one document, and chances for error are significantly higher. For any documents kept on OneDrive or SharePoint, Microsoft 365 offers a notion called the Version History Pane. The version history window displays you when and by whom your file was saved. Simply click the document title in the title bar at the top of the window and choose Version History to open it.

Why set alerts on OneDrive for when changes are made to a shared document

Users can get notifications regarding file activity in OneDrive and SharePoint by default. These alerts might show in a variety of apps and devices. For example, the service can deliver alerts to the Office mobile app for Android using the Firebase Cloud Messaging service or the Office mobile app for iOS via the Apple Push Notification service. This is effective if you need to monitor the changes made to a document for security reasons, and being notified early of changes will allow you to revert some of those changes back to normal before it becomes a huge issue down the line.

OneDrive alerts can also send notifications to the Windows or Mac OneDrive sync app. For compliance reasons, you may switch off these notifications for all users as a global or SharePoint admin in Microsoft 365. If you allow these notifications, users can select to turn them off app by an app where they don’t want them.

In depth – step by step process – How to set up email notifications for when changes are made to a shared document:

Step by step breakdown:

  • Go to the bottom of the left menu and click “Return to classic OneDrive.”
  • Search for the shared document that you want to create an alert for. (1)
  • Then click the document in the results dialog box. (2)
  • Next, click on “Alert Me” at the top.
  • Select your preferred alert settings, such as where to send the alerts.
  • Then click the “OK” button.

That’s it for this Blog thank you for taking time out to read our content, please feel free to email our team about how it went if you followed the steps or if you need more help with the questions we answered in this Blog. We aimed to be as concise as possible, however, we can also use some assistance, so if you have found anything we missed, be sure to email our team and we will update the relevant information.

Saajid Gangat

Saajid Gangat has been a researcher and content writer at Business Tech Planet since 2021. Saajid is a tech-savvy writer with expertise in web and graphic design and has extensive knowledge of Microsoft 365, Adobe, Shopify, WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, and more! You can connect with Saajid on Linkedin.

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