Issue
When sending documents to your clients via OneDrive using FYI Collaborate, the client has difficulty completing the verification process to access the document via the secure link.
This article explains possible causes that may be preventing the client from accessing their documents.
Cause
There are a number of possible causes that may prevent your client from successfully verifying themselves to access their documents.
These include:
- Using an incorrect email address.
- Verification code being sent to their junk/spam folder.
- Verification code being stuck in the business’ spam filter and/or firewall.
- Using an invalid verification code.
- The link is not available to them.
- Unable to send a verification code.
Solutions
Following are solutions for the causes flagged above:
- They are already a Microsoft 365 email user.
Clients may be prompted to enter their password and they assume this password should be provided by your practice. This password is in fact the password for their existing Microsoft 365 email account. - The email address they are using to access the link is not the recipient email used.
Clients will receive the error below if they attempt to access the secure link with a different email to the one you used to send the collaborate email. They will need to double check the email address the link was sent to before trying to access again. If there is an issue with the email address you used to send the email to your client you will need to create a new collaborate email with the correct email address.
- The verification code email goes to their junk/spam folder.
After requesting the code it does not appear in their inbox they will need to check their junk/spam folder for an email from no-reply@sharepointonline.com or account-security-noreply@accountprotection.microsoft.com
If the email does go here, they should trust this site/sender so that future codes go straight to their inbox.
Further details for Gmail users can be found in this Gmail help Mark or unmark Spam in Gmail and for Outlook users in this Microsoft help Block or allow (junk email settings). - They do not receive a verification code in their inbox or junk/spam folder.
The verification code email may have been stopped by your client’s business spam filter and/or firewall. It is best that they contact their IT service to have the email addresses no-reply@sharepointonline.com and account-security-noreply@accountprotection.microsoft.com added to their business’ email whitelist and firewall investigated. Adding the email address to their email whitelist will ensure that all users on that domain are able to receive future emails from no-reply@sharepointonline.com and account-security-noreply@accountprotection.microsoft.com - The verification code is not valid.
This means that they are using an old verification code. It is best that they refer back to the email containing the secure link and request a new code. They should only request this code once as multiple requests may cause further confusion for their email system.
- Error message - This link is not available to you.
They are already signed into an email account which does not have permission to access the secure link. They should logout of all accounts and login using the email address the secure link was sent to. - Unable to send a verification code.
At the verification code screen, they may see an error message "Unable to send a code. Wait a few minutes and try again."
This is an uncommon but known issue with Microsoft. The client will need to try to login again later.