Collect documents from outside your organisation, into SharePoint.

Why the built-in options fall short

SharePoint's Request Files feature can collect files from outside people, but it takes files only. There is nowhere for the reference number, the expiry date, or the tick that says they agree to your terms, so you get a document with no context and a manual job to match it up. Microsoft Forms can gather answers, but attachments and any route into a SharePoint list depend on a Power Automate flow you build and maintain. Neither gives you a single form that captures the file and its details in one submission.

One public form, file plus details

Forms 365 Web publishes a form to a public URL that anyone can open and submit with no Microsoft account. Put a file upload field alongside your normal questions, and each submission arrives in your SharePoint list as one record with the document and the values that belong to it. The person outside your organisation just fills in a web form; on your side it lands where your team already works, inside your Microsoft 365 tenant.

Setting it up

1. 1

   Build the form

   Add a file upload field and the questions that give the document meaning: who, what, a reference, an expiry date.

2. 2

   Point it at SharePoint

   Connect the form to the list that should hold the submissions, so the record and the file land together.

3. 3

   Publish and share the link

   Publish to get the public URL, or embed the form on your own site. No sign-in for the person uploading.

4. 4

   Confirm a real submission

   Upload a test document and check the item appears in your list with the file and the fields in the right place.

Good jobs for this

• Contractor and supplier documents, like insurance and licences, with an expiry you can track.
• Applications where someone attaches a CV, a certificate, or a signed form.
• Claims and requests that need a receipt or a photo as evidence.
• Onboarding paperwork from someone who is not yet in your systems.