Using Sharepoint on Mac in 2023

Sharepoint keeps gaining in popularity and while Microsoft does let you connect to document libraries from the OneDrive client, it leaves quite a bit to be desired. There isn’t a great way to specify the document libraries you want, and the reliability of OneDrive app can be pretty poor.

Sharepoint via the Web

Most users get to Sharepoint via the web. It has all features that Sharepoint offers, is managed by Microsoft, and is relatively easy to use. The biggest downside to this method is that there is no native integration with any of your existing workflow and applications you use to manage and generate content. In order to get the richest experience via the web you’ll want to make sure you have a modern version of your browser. Microsoft keeps this list of supported browsers.

Mapping a Drive via WebDAV

While mounting Sharepoint as a network drive you can use WebDAV in certain situations in a Windows environment, it doesn’t function correctly on Mac when connecting to Office 365. It doesn’t support modern authentication constraints like 2 factor auth or any login federation. Additionally, it only provides a simple read/write interface and none of advanced sharing functionality.

Microsoft Document Connection

In versions of Office previous to 2016 Microsoft included an app called Document Connection to move data in and out of Sharepoint, but it has been since discontinued in favor of more direct integration inside the office 365 apps.

Mapping a Network Drive

Third-party tools like ExpanDrive integrate directly with the Sharepoint API building in native access to any Mac. A user authenticates one time using the same login flow a they access Office 365 via the web, including MFA and SAML configurations. They can then access their entire Sharepoint setup as a fast, aggressively cached network drive that provides advanced features like smart-sync offline mode, integrated link sharing, and more.

OneDrive sync client

Another option is to use the OneDrive sync client to access Sharepoint on your mac. It provides reasonable integration and speed and is available from Microsoft. However, it doesn’t make managing a configuration with fine grained permissions and many different sites particularly easy.