Why am I showing as a Guest Contributor in Sharepoint even when I am logged in??

Natalia Lyon 0 Reputation points
2025-11-03T20:12:14.7433333+00:00

My work has a sharepoint. I'm signed in with microsoft on the browser, but for a while the sharepoint was showing me as a Guest Contributor and giving me limited access. Then I asked the admin about it, she said I should have full access and resent the link again and it worked fine for a few days.

Now, it's randomly not working again. It's vanished from my Frequent Sites, and when I click it in my Following Sites, I get a 404 message. I can still get to it via direct links in my email inbox, but it's registering me as a Guest Contributor again, not as myself, the same as it was before.

This is incredibly frustrating. What am I doing wrong here? Nobody else is having a problem with it.

Microsoft 365 and Office | SharePoint | For business | Windows

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  1. Jay Tr 5,160 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2025-11-03T21:07:12.61+00:00

    Hi @Natalia Lyon, 

    Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum. 

    Thank you for reaching out and sharing your experience with us.  

    Based on my observations of similar reports and personal testing, this typically occurs when you're accessing or modifying documents through a shared link, particularly one that was generated using the “Anyone with the link can edit” option.  

    User's image

    Even if you're logged in, SharePoint might still see you as an anonymous or guest user in that situation, which results in limited permissions, such as being unable to access all documents or copy links to files that you have uploaded.  

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    To address the issue, here are a few suggestions you can try: 

    1. Open the document directly from SharePoint (not via shared link)  

    If you have access to the full site, try navigating to the document library directly instead of using the shared link. This helps ensure SharePoint recognizes you as an authenticated user.  

    1. Clear your browser cache and cookies  

    Old sessions or cached data can cause SharePoint to misidentify your account. Try signing out of all Microsoft accounts, clearing your browser cache, and signing back in.  

    • Launch the browser, and press Ctrl + Shift + Delete to open the Clear browsing data utility. 
    • Now, select All time from the Time range dropdown menu, tick the checkboxes for Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files, then click on Clear data towards the bottom.   

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    1. Ask the file owner to share with you directly  

    Instead of using “Anyone with the link,” they can share the file with your specific email address. This gives you full permissions and avoids guest mode.  

     

    Note: Please understand that our initial response does not always resolve the issue immediately. However, with your help and more detailed information, we can work together to find a solution.  

    I hope this information is helpful. Please follow these steps and let me know if it works for you. If not, we can work together to resolve this.  

    Thank you for your patience and your understanding. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.  

    I'm looking forward to your reply.   

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment". 

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.     

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