SharePoint: move, add and edit documents from AdminPulse

The connection between SharePoint and AdminPulse lets you manage files stored in SharePoint from within AdminPulse. You can edit Word and Excel documents with your colleagues and always see the latest version in AdminPulse.

This article explains how to set up the connection, manage documents and resolve error messages.

What does the SharePoint connection do?

With this connection, you can:

• move documents from AdminPulse to a SharePoint site;
• add files that are already in SharePoint to AdminPulse;
• edit Word and Excel documents in SharePoint or in the Word or Excel app on your computer;
• rename, replace or delete a document from AdminPulse, with the same change applied in SharePoint.

The file is stored in SharePoint. When you open it in AdminPulse, AdminPulse retrieves the latest version from SharePoint.

👉 Files are not added or moved between AdminPulse and SharePoint automatically. You need to move each document to SharePoint or add it to AdminPulse from SharePoint.

Setting up the SharePoint connection

What do you need for this connection?

To use the connection, you need:

• a Microsoft work account with access to SharePoint;
• access to the SharePoint sites where you want to store or retrieve documents. AdminPulse only shows the sites your Microsoft account can access;
• permission to edit documents in AdminPulse.

Each employee sets up the connection with their own Microsoft account. The connection applies per employee, rather than per company. When you move, add or open a document, AdminPulse uses your connection.

👉 To open a document stored in SharePoint, your colleagues also need to set up their own connection and have access to the file in SharePoint. Otherwise, they see the message "You do not have permission to view this file or your SharePoint connection has not been configured yet."

Setting up the connection via Admin-Connect

Follow these steps:

1. Open the user menu and go to My profile. Click Admin-Connect next to Integrations. Admin-Connect opens in a new tab.
   

2. Under SharePoint, click Connect.

   

3. Sign in with your Microsoft account.

   

   👉 If you have a Microsoft work account and a personal account with the same email address, choose your work account when you sign in. The connection does not work with a personal account.

   

4. Give AdminPulse permission to edit documents in SharePoint.

5. After signing in, you automatically return to Admin-Connect. Click Validate connection to check that the connection works.

   

If the connection works, Admin-Connect shows your name, your Microsoft account, and an example of a SharePoint site you can access.

Checking the connection or signing in again

In Admin-Connect, click Validate connection to check whether the connection still works. If you see an error message, click Reauthenticate and sign in to Microsoft again.

Managing documents in SharePoint

Once the connection works, you can manage SharePoint documents from AdminPulse.

Moving a document to SharePoint

To move a document to SharePoint, you need permission to delete documents in AdminPulse.

Follow these steps:

1. In the list of documents, click the arrow next to the document’s action button and choose Move to SharePoint.
   
2. Under SharePoint site, select the site where you want to store the document. You can search for the site by name.
3. Under SharePoint drive, select the document library where you want to store the document.
4. Under Folder, you can choose a folder or subfolder. If you leave this field empty, AdminPulse places the document in the main folder of the document library.
5. Click OK.

AdminPulse moves the file to SharePoint. From then on, AdminPulse retrieves the file from SharePoint every time you open, view or download it.

You can recognize a document that is stored in SharePoint by the SharePoint icon in the list of documents.

💡 AdminPulse moves files larger than 10 MB in the background, so it may take a moment before the document appears in SharePoint.

👉 Invoices (Invoice (.xml), Invoice (PDF) and Invoice detail (PDF)), emails linked to an invoice, and document templates cannot be moved to SharePoint.

Adding a file from SharePoint to AdminPulse

You can add one file at a time. To do this, you need permission to create documents in AdminPulse.

Follow these steps:

1. In the Drop zone, the area where you add files, click Link from SharePoint.
   
2. Select the SharePoint site, the SharePoint drive and the Folder that contains the file.
3. Under File, select the file you want to add.
4. Click OK.

AdminPulse creates a document linked to the file in SharePoint. The file itself stays in SharePoint: AdminPulse does not make a copy.

AdminPulse links the document to the selected relation and places it in the folder you currently have selected, just as when you upload a file.

AdminPulse also tries to recognize the document type.

💡 If the file is already in AdminPulse, for example because you moved or added it earlier, AdminPulse does not create a second document.

Editing a document in SharePoint

You need permission to edit documents in AdminPulse.

You can edit Word and Excel documents that are stored in SharePoint in one of these ways:

• Click the SharePoint icon (Edit document in SharePoint) in the list of documents to open the document in SharePoint in your browser.
• Choose Open in app from the document’s action menu (the arrow next to the action button) to open the document in Word or Excel on your computer.
• Click Edit in the document preview to open the document in SharePoint in your browser.

SharePoint saves your changes automatically. Because AdminPulse always retrieves the file from SharePoint, you immediately see the latest version in AdminPulse.

If the Office 365 document editor is also connected

If you have also connected the Office 365 document editor, Edit does not appear in the preview of a SharePoint document. Use the SharePoint icon or Open in app instead.

Opening, downloading or sharing a SharePoint document

For files other than Word and Excel documents, such as PDFs, click the SharePoint icon (Open document in SharePoint) to open them in SharePoint.

Use Download to download a SharePoint document, or Share to share it with a colleague, just like any other document.

💡 In the document preview, use Download as PDF to download a Word or Excel document as a PDF.

Renaming or replacing a document

When you rename a SharePoint document in AdminPulse, AdminPulse also changes the name in SharePoint.

When you use Replace to replace the document in AdminPulse, AdminPulse also replaces the file in SharePoint.

👉 If you rename the file directly in SharePoint, the document keeps its old name in AdminPulse.

Viewing a previous version

You cannot download a previous version of a SharePoint document from the document’s audit log in AdminPulse. Use the version history in SharePoint instead.

Deleting a document

👉 When you delete a SharePoint document in AdminPulse, AdminPulse deletes the file in SharePoint too, moving it to the recycle bin. This also applies to files you added with Link from SharePoint.

If deletion in SharePoint fails

To delete a file, AdminPulse first uses the connection of the employee deleting the document. If that fails, AdminPulse uses the connection of the employee who created the document in AdminPulse.

If you delete the file directly in SharePoint

If you delete a file directly in SharePoint, the document remains in the list in AdminPulse, but you can no longer open it. Delete the document in AdminPulse as well.

Known error messages and solutions

If you see an error message, open the section below to find out what it means and how to resolve it.

Error messages and solutions

Error message	Meaning	Solution
"SharePoint validation error, please check if the authorized account is a valid Work account and not a Personal account"	You signed in to Microsoft with a personal account instead of a work account. This message appears in Admin-Connect after you click Validate connection.	Click Reauthenticate and choose your work account when you sign in.
"Error while trying to connect to sharepoint server."	AdminPulse cannot connect to SharePoint with your Microsoft account, for example because you need to sign in again. This message appears in Admin-Connect after you click Validate connection.	Click Reauthenticate and sign in to Microsoft again.
"No Sharepoint sites are accessible for this user, so no site can be linked."	The connection works, but your Microsoft account does not have access to any SharePoint site.	Ask the administrator of your Microsoft environment for access to the right SharePoint site.
"Something went wrong while connecting to Sharepoint"	AdminPulse cannot reach SharePoint through your connection, for example because you have not set it up yet or you need to sign in again.	Set up the connection. If you have already set it up, click Validate connection in Admin-Connect and then Reauthenticate if needed.
"You do not have permission to view this file or your SharePoint connection has not been configured yet."	You are opening a SharePoint document, but you have not set up the connection yet or you do not have access to the file in SharePoint. The file may also have been deleted in SharePoint.	Set up the SharePoint connection if you have not done so, or ask for access to the file in SharePoint. Also check whether the file is still in SharePoint. If it has been deleted, delete the document from the list in AdminPulse as well.
"A file with the same name has already been found in SharePoint."	The folder you chose already contains a file with the same name. AdminPulse does not overwrite that file.	Choose another folder, or rename the document in AdminPulse before trying again.
"Document has already been moved to SharePoint"	AdminPulse is still moving a large file to SharePoint in the background.	Wait until the document has been moved.
"Something went wrong when saving in SharePoint. Possibly the file was opened by someone or a file with the same name already exists in the same location."	You are replacing a SharePoint document, but SharePoint could not save the new file.	Check whether someone has the file open in SharePoint and whether the same folder already contains a file with the same name. Then try again.

Tip: saving a SharePoint link for a relation

You can also save a link to a client’s SharePoint site or folder in their relation file. You do not need the SharePoint connection for this, but you do need permission to edit relations.

Follow these steps:

1. Open the relation file and click the plus icon next to Communication channels.
2. Choose the type SharePoint.
3. Paste the web address of the SharePoint site or folder into the field.
4. Click Save.

AdminPulse shows the link as a SharePoint logo under External links in the relation file. Click the logo to open the client’s SharePoint site or folder in a new tab.

👉 AdminPulse does not use this link to move or retrieve documents. The link is a shortcut to SharePoint.

💡 Good to read

Read these articles for more information about working with documents and relation files:

• For an overview of the ways to add documents to AdminPulse, read: Adding documents: uploading, linking and automatic processing.
• Want to learn more about communication channels and external links for a relation? Read: The relation file - Communication section.