SharePoint search result showing for those without permission to the documents

Question

We have documents in a restricted SharePoint library that are appearing in searches (at both the site and organization level) for users who do not have access to the library. The users aren't able to actually open the documents, but seeing the titles and even a brief blurb in the search results is enough of a security breach for us.

I reached out to M365 Support and they advised going to Library settings > Advanced settings > Search and toggling the 'No' option for the restricted document library. However, this restricts the documents in the restricted library from being searchable entirely, even those who should have access, which is obviously not ideal.

Does anyone know if this is normal behaviour, or how to troubleshoot?

Answer 1

Hi @Kelly Livingstone,

By default, if a document library is set to allow items to appear in search results, users may see titles and snippets even if they do not have access to the documents themselves. So, this is a normal behavior.

Personally, I completely agree with you. From my point of view, indeed it is unreasonable for users search documents they do not have access. We sincerely recommend you go to SharePoint Feedback community to provide your feedback: SharePoint · Community (microsoft.com). This is the best platform to let related team hear from you and make the products and services better for you and others.

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