user access for sharepoint - for view only access

Hi @Daphne S W CHONG, 

Thanks for your question, I understand the need to give someone view-only access without adding them into Teams. 

Based on both testing and Microsoft’s documented behavior, here’s how it works: 

For a standard channel: 

• The files are stored in the main SharePoint site of the Team. In this setup, you can share specific files or folders directly from SharePoint and grant view-only access without adding the user to the Team, since item-level sharing allows permissions to be assigned independently from Team membership. 
• However, it’s important to note that you cannot share the entire site in this case. A standard channel does not have its own separate SharePoint site, it exists as a folder within the Team’s main SharePoint site, so any access control at the site level will still follow the overall Team membership. 

For private and shared channels:  

• The behavior is different. Although each of these channels has its own SharePoint site, permissions are tightly synchronized with the channel membership and cannot be managed separately in SharePoint. As Microsoft states: 
• From Microsoft's document: “Membership to the site owner and member groups are kept in sync with the membership of the shared channel. Site permissions for a shared channel site can’t be managed independently through SharePoint.” 

In addition, Microsoft's official guidance also notes that when Teams and SharePoint are integrated, permission management for these channel sites needs to be done through Teams, not directly in SharePoint.  

For your reference:  

• Overview of teams and channels in Microsoft Teams - Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn 
• Teams and SharePoint integration - SharePoint in Microsoft 365 | Microsoft Learn 
• Manage settings and permissions when SharePoint and Teams are integrated - SharePoint in Microsoft … 

In general: 

• If you’re looking to share files or folders from a channel, using a standard channel works well since you can share items directly from the SharePoint document library. 
• If your goal is to give someone access to the entire SharePoint site without adding them to the Team, a better approach is to place that content in a separate SharePoint site that you manage independently. 

I understand this may not fully cover every scenario, but it reflects how permissions are currently structured between Teams and SharePoint, with membership and access closely linked. 

You are welcome to share feedback directly with the Microsoft product team to highlight real-world use cases: How do I give feedback on Microsoft 365? . The product team actively monitors customers feedback, and many features have been developed or improved based on customer suggestions. In the meantime, you can check Microsoft 365 Roadmap for updating features in the future.

I genuinely appreciate your feedback and share your goal of making SharePoint and Teams better and more user-friendly.   

Hope this helps clarify things. Thank you and I wish you a successful day! 

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