Access Request Form for SharePoint Online

We are following this question, as this change is also having a significant impact on our organisation.

We manage a large number of SharePoint project sites, including sites with unique permissions on libraries and other content. Previously, approved access requests added employees to the site's default Members group. They therefore automatically received the correct Edit permissions everywhere the Members group had been granted access.

Approved users are now assigned Contribute permissions directly at site level. This causes access issues on content with unique permissions, creates large numbers of direct permission assignments, and makes permission management and auditing considerably more difficult. Site owners may also be unaware that the approval behaviour has changed.

We need either the previous group-based behaviour to be restored or a configurable option that allows administrators to select the default SharePoint group used when approving access requests. Clear communication from Microsoft about when and why this behaviour changed would also be greatly appreciated.

my exal fole not open

Unfortunately, AFAIK, this is not the case. Instead, when an owner approves a request through the Access Requests page, they assign a permission level like Read or Edit. This action grants the user direct permissions at the site or root level, rather than placing them into a managed SharePoint group.

The access request form operates by offering only permission levels during approval. The available options typically include Read, Contribute, Edit, or Full Control. When a request is approved, SharePoint assigns the selected permission level directly to the user. This results in direct access at either the item level or the site level, bypassing membership in default security groups such as Members or Visitors.

Additionally, the assigned permission generally applies to the entire site. The only exception occurs when the request originates from a specific list or library that has broken inheritance. In such cases, the permission applies only within that scoped resource rather than the full site.

Avoid relying on the access request form if group-based permission management is preferred. Instead, you can decline or ignore the request and manually assign users to the appropriate SharePoint group. To do this, navigate to Settings, then Site permissions, and select Advanced permission settings. From there, you can explicitly add the user to the desired group, such as Visitors or Members, ensuring more consistent and manageable access control.

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hth

Marcin