Can OneDrive File Request send an automatic confirmation email after someone uploads a file?

Question

Can OneDrive File Request send an automatic confirmation email after someone uploads a file?

Belle Zhu 20

Hi there,

A question about the File Request function. I’m currently using the OneDrive File Request feature to collect video uploads for a project. Participants upload files through the request link, and the files are automatically saved to a OneDrive folder.

One issue encountered is that some participants are unsure whether their video has been successfully uploaded or simply do not remember if they've already uploaded one for the day. Ideally, we would like participants to receive an automatic confirmation email after their file has been successfully uploaded.

Is there any way to enable this within OneDrive File Request?

Alternatively, are there recommended workarounds (for example using Power Automate, Forms, or another Microsoft tool) that would allow an automatic confirmation message to be sent once a file upload is completed?

Thanks in advance!

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Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

Hi Belle Zhu

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A Forum.

At this time, OneDrive File Request does not support sending an automatic confirmation email to the uploader after a file is submitted. The upload page only displays an on‑screen success message, and because OneDrive File Request does not capture or require the uploader’s email address, there is no built‑in way to notify them once the upload is complete.

Since sending a confirmation message requires capturing the uploader’s email address, based on community experience, you may want to consider Microsoft Forms combined with Power Automate as a workaround within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. However, please note that using the File Upload question type in Microsoft Forms requires respondents to be signed in with a Microsoft account. Depending on your tenant settings, this may need to be an account from your organization or a personal Microsoft account. If you require strictly anonymous uploads from users without Microsoft accounts, Microsoft Forms may not meet your requirements, and the standard OneDrive File Request feature, without email confirmation, remains the only native option.

Please also refer to the Q&A Assist response below for an example workaround using Microsoft Forms and Power Automate.

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Answer 1

OneDrive File Request itself does not send an automatic confirmation email to the person who uploads the file. The built‑in behavior is that the owner of the request receives a notification email whenever someone uploads files to the file request folder, but uploaders only see an on‑screen confirmation and (if signed in) can see that the upload completed.

To achieve automatic confirmations to uploaders, a workaround with other Microsoft 365 tools is required. A common pattern is:

Use Microsoft Forms to collect basic details (for example, name and email address) and include a File upload question so participants can upload their video.
Files uploaded via Forms are stored in SharePoint or OneDrive for work or school, depending on whether the form is group‑owned or individual.
Use Power Automate to trigger on new form responses, then:
- Get the uploaded file information from the response.
- Optionally create a share link to the uploaded file using the OneDrive for Business – Create share link action.
- Send a confirmation email (for example, with Office 365 Outlook – Send an email (V2)) to the respondent, including any details or links desired.

The Forms + Power Automate approach provides:

Automatic email confirmation to each participant.
Centralized storage of uploaded files in OneDrive/SharePoint.
Flexibility to customize the email (subject, body, and optional clickable link to the uploaded file using the Web URL in an HTML anchor tag as shown in the documentation).

References: