--- title: "The Definitive Guide to SharePoint Permissions" description: "Learn how to properly secure the many different sections of SharePoint in this definitive guide to SharePoint permissions!" canonical: "https://adamtheautomator.com/sharepoint-permissions/" --- # The Definitive Guide to SharePoint Permissions > Learn how to properly secure the many different sections of SharePoint in this definitive guide to SharePoint permissions! Source: https://adamtheautomator.com/sharepoint-permissions/ --- ATA Learning Tap to hide [ ATA Learning ](/) * [Home](/) * [Tutorials](/tutorials/) * [Instructors](/author/) * [Advertising](/advertising/) * [Recommended Resources](/resources/) * [About Adam](/about-adam/) Search for: * [](https://twitter.com/adbertram) * [](https://github.com/Adam-the-Automator) * [](https://www.linkedin.com/company/adam-the-automator-llc) * [](/feed/) ![The Definitive Guide to SharePoint Permissions](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/sharepoint-permissions.jpg) # The Definitive Guide to SharePoint Permissions [![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/95965cc8031f82897b83c8ca7ae53cded343e96a97c99cf518ea18ee9db91879?s=192&d=mm&r=g)Levis Masonde](https://adamtheautomator.com/author/levis-masonde/)3 January 20237 min. read Categories: [IT Ops](/category/it-ops/) Tags:[SharePoint](/tag/sharepoint/) Table of Contents * [Prerequisites](#prerequisites) * [What are SharePoint Permissions?](#what-are-sharepoint-permissions) * [Creating a SharePoint Site](#creating-a-sharepoint-site) * [Setting Default SharePoint Site Permissions](#setting-default-sharepoint-site-permissions) * [Creating a Security Group for Customized Permissions](#creating-a-security-group-for-customized-permissions) * [Setting Document Library Permissions](#setting-document-library-permissions) * [Creating a Custom SharePoint Permission Level](#creating-a-custom-sharepoint-permission-level) * [Assign a Custom Permission Level to Users](#assign-a-custom-permission-level-to-users) * [Non-Microsoft 365 Group sites](#non-microsoft-365-group-sites) * [Microsoft 365 Group sites](#microsoft-365-group-sites) * [Conclusion](#conclusion) Many companies use SharePoint to manage shared folders, documents, and lists between users/workers of an organization. But just because the files are stored in a public place online does not mean anyone should have full access to them. Granting the right SharePoint permissions will do the trick in controlling who can access what. In this tutorial, you will learn how SharePoint permissions work to control the viewing and editing of folders, documents, or lists. Read on and prepare to set boundaries with SharePoint permissions! ## Prerequisites This tutorial will be a hands-on demonstration. To follow along, be sure you have a [Microsoft Office 365 account](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/try). ## What are SharePoint Permissions? SharePoint permissions allow you to handle users’ access to a SharePoint Site by assigning different permissions levels. There are predefined sets in SharePoint Online which are suitable for most use cases. Below are the default ones:
Permission LevelDescription
Full ControlUsers have full control of the site.
DesignUsers can view, add, update, delete, approve, and customize.
EditUsers can add, edit and delete lists; they can view, add, update and delete list items and documents.
ContributeUsers can view, add, update, and delete list items and documents.
ReadUsers can view pages and list items, and download documents.
Restricted ViewUsers can view pages, list items, and documents; they can view documents in a browser but cannot download them.
Limited AccessAssigned to a user or group when sharing an item, where they can access the site and view the selected item.
## Creating a SharePoint Site SharePoint’s structural base is a site, so everything in SharePoint is built on top of a site. All the different sections’ permissions under a site can be controlled by the site’s permissions. Related:[Getting Started with PowerShell SharePoint Management](https://adamtheautomator.com/powershell-sharepoint/) By default, all [SharePoint](https://adamtheautomator.com/powershell-sharepoint/) sites are created with the three security groups below: * **Owners** – Have full control of site content, theme, permission and site settings, and hub associations. * **Members** – Can edit and view site content, including files, pages, lists, and navigation. * **Visitors** – Only have read permissions. To see how SharePoint permissions work in action, you will first create a SharePoint site in this tutorial with the following steps: Related:[How to Provision a Website With aaPanel and LetsEncrypt](https://adamtheautomator.com/aapanel/) 1\. Open your favorite web browser, and log in to SharePoint. 2\. Next, click **Create site** (upper-left) on the SharePoint start page, which opens a pop-up wizard on the right (step three). ![sharepoint permissions - Initiating creating a new SharePoint site](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image.png) Initiating creating a new SharePoint site 3\. On the pop-up window, click **Team site** as the site type for your SharePoint site. When creating a new SharePoint site, you usually have two options: a **Team site** or a **Communication site**. But note that SharePoint administrators also have other options to choose from. ![Choosing a site type (Team site)](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-1.png) Choosing a site type (Team site) 4\. Now, fill in the information for your site, and click **Next** to create your SharePoint site. ![Creating a private SharePoint site ](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-2.png) Creating a private SharePoint site Depending on your **Privacy settings** choice, the following users will have permission to access the SharePoint site by default:
UserTeam Site (private)Team Site (public)Communication site
OwnersOnly Selected usersOnly Selected usersOnly Selected users
MembersOnly Selected usersAnyone in the organizationAnyone in the organization
Visitors–––
## Setting Default SharePoint S**ite Permissions** With your SharePoint site created, it is time to work on setting SharePoint permissions. SharePoint uses Security Groups to help handle permissions by assigning users to predefined permissions. Security Groups can be applied to individual documents or entire sites. Site permissions let you create permissions for the whole site, which allows you to set the security setting at a site level, affecting all document libraries, lists, pages, and more. 1\. On your SharePoint site’s page, click the settings (gear) icon and select **Site Permissions** to view and make changes to the site permissions. ![Accessing the site permissions](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-3.png) Accessing the site permissions 2\. Next, click the **Add members** dropdown, and select **Add members to group** to choose adding members to a group. ![Choosing to add members to the default permissions group](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-4.png) Choosing to add members to the default permissions group 3\. Under the **Group membership**, click **Add members** to initiate adding members to the default permissions group. ![Initiating adding members to the default permissions group](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-5.png) Initiating adding members to the default permissions group 4\. Now, search for a user in the search bar. Once found, choose **Member** in the dropdown field, and click **Save** to add the user with assigned permissions. ![Adding a member to the default permissions group](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-6.png) Adding a member to the default permissions group ## Creating a Security Group for Customized Permissions So far, you have learned to assign a user to SharePoint’s default permission groups. But can you customize permissions? Yes, SharePoint lets you create custom permissions for unique cases via Security Groups and Document Library Permissions. But for a start, you will work on creating your security group. Permission levels can be assigned to individual users or a group of users in the same class. But when working with many users, the best way to handle permissions is to use security groups with predefined permissions. To create a security group, follow these steps: 1\. Open the **settings menu** and click on **Site Permissions** to view and make changes to the site permissions. ![Accessing the site permissions](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-3.png) Accessing the site permissions 2\. Next, click the **Advanced permissions settings** hyperlink to access the PERMISSIONS page, as shown below. ![Accessing the permissions page](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-8.png) Accessing the permissions page 3\. In the PERMISSIONS page, click **Create Group** to initiate creating a group. ![Initiating creating a group](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-9.png) Initiating creating a group 4\. Now, configure the group with the following: * Give the group a meaningful name (i.e., **ATA\_Readers**).Select who can view and add members to the group. In this case, choose the **Group Members** and **Group Owner** options.Choose the permission level to assign to the group members. But for this tutorial, choose the **Read** view to grant the group read-only permissions. Once configured, scroll down to the bottom, and click **Create** to finalize creating the group. ![Configuring the new group](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-10.png) Configuring the new group 5\. After creating the group, go back to the **PERMISSIONS** page, and click **Grant Permissions** to assign users to your newly-created security group. ![Granting permissions](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-11.png) Granting permissions 6\. On the pop-up window, share the site as follows: * Search and select the users or groups to share the site. > _Each group can be assigned one or multiple permission levels._ * Choose the newly-created permissions group as the **permission level**. * Click **Share** to share the site with selected users with restricted permission set in the permissions level. ![Assigning group permissions to users](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-12.png) Assigning group permissions to users ## Setting **Document Library Permissions** When site-level permissions are not suitable for your situation, setting permissions on the document library or lists in SharePoint will do the trick. To change permissions on a document library, you first need to open the library: 1\. Navigate to your site’s **Documents** page to access more SharePoint settings. ![Accessing the Documents page](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-13.png) Accessing the Documents page 2\. Next, click the settings (gear) icon, and choose **Library settings**. ![Accessing the library settings](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-14.png) Accessing the library settings 3\. Under the **Library settings**, click the **More library settings** hyperlink. ![Accessing more library settings](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-15.png) Accessing more library settings 4\. Now, click the **Permissions for this document library** hyperlink to access the PERMISSIONS page for this specific document library. ![Opening the library permissions](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-16.png) Opening the library permissions 5\. Finally, click on **Stop Inheriting Permissions** to stop inheriting permissions from the parent. Doing so copies all existing permissions to the document library, making them unique. > 💡 _Remember that changes made at the site level later are not applied to this document library after you stop inheriting._ At this point, you can now modify the permissions as you did at the site level. You can add a custom security group, grant additional permissions to users or groups, or change the permission level of the existing groups. ![Stopping inheriting permissions](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-17.png) Stopping inheriting permissions ## Creating a Custom SharePoint Permission Level At this point, you already know how to play around with the default permission levels. But what if those default ones do not fit your organization’s security requirements? Worry not. In SharePoint, you can create custom permission levels for total control of the site permissions. 1\. Navigate to the Advanced permission settings as you did in step two of the “Creating a Security Group for Customized Permissions” section. 2\. Next, click **Permission Levels** in the **PERMISSIONS** ribbon tab to access all permission levels. ![Accessing the Permission Levels page](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-18.png) Accessing the Permission Levels page 3\. On the **Permission Levels** page, click **Add a Permission Level** to initiate adding a new permission level. ![Initiating adding a new permission level](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-19.png) Initiating adding a new permission level 4\. Now, provide a **Name**, **Description** for the permission level. Once provided, tick the **Add Items** and **View Items** boxes to allow users to add and view documents only. ![Configuring the new permission level’s name, description, and list permissions](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-20.png) Configuring the new permission level’s name, description, and list permissions 5\. Lastly, tick all **Personal Permissions**, as shown below, to give the user personal permissions, and click **Create** (bottom-right) to create the new custom permission level. At this point, you can now apply this custom permission level to your documents. ![Creating the new custom permission level](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-21.png) Creating the new custom permission level ## **Assign a Custom Permission Level to Users** After creating a custom permission level, you can now assign a user to the permission level. How? Depending on whether you are working on a Microsoft 365 group site, assigning a user to a custom-level permission can be achieved differently. ### **Non-Microsoft 365 Group sites** Non-Microsoft 365 group sites include classic SharePoint sites, Modern Team Sites without a Group, or Communication Sites. But for this tutorial, you will create a Communication Site. 1\. Initiate creating a new SharePoint site. But this time, choose the **Communication Site**. ![Initiating creating a Communication Site](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-22.png) Initiating creating a Communication Site 2\. Next, name your site and click **Finish** to create the Communication Site. ![Naming and creating the Communication Site](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-23.png) Naming and creating the Communication Site 3\. After creating the site, navigate to the Advanced permissions settings. 4\. Under the **PERMISSIONS** tab, tick the **Members** checkbox, and click **Edit User Permissions** to edit user permissions for the site. ![Editing user permissions](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-24.png) Editing user permissions 5\. Tick the custom permission level box (**Add\_and\_View**), and click **OK** to assign the permission level. ![Choosing the custom permission level](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-25.png) Choosing the custom permission level ### **Microsoft 365 Group sites** Since this tutorial involves a Microsoft 365 group site, you will also see how to assign custom-level permission to Microsoft 365 group sites. 1\. On the Advanced permissions setting, tick the Microsoft 365 group. Notice below that the **Edit User Permissions** option is disabled, so jump to the next step to edit user permissions. ![Attempting to edit user permissions](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-26.png) Attempting to edit user permissions 2\. Navigate to the **Site Permissions** screen, and change the **ATA\_Site Member’s** group permissions from **Edit** to **Read**. Doing so removes the group from the **Site members** permissions. ![Changing the group permission to Read](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-27.png) Changing the group permission to Read 3\. Once changed, click on **Advanced permissions settings** to access the **PERMISSIONS** page one last time. ![Accessing the Advanced permissions settings](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-28.png) Accessing the Advanced permissions settings 4\. Now, click on **Grant Permissions** to initiate granting permissions to users. ![Initiating granting permissions to users](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-29.png) Initiating granting permissions to users 5\. Finally, add the **ATA Site Members** back to the site, but now with the **Add\_and\_View** permission level selected. And that is all! You have changed the site permission level from default to the custom one you created. ![Granting users access to the site with the custom permission level](https://adamtheautomator.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-30.png) Granting users access to the site with the custom permission level ## Conclusion Setting up SharePoint permissions is critical when working with sensitive data. And in this tutorial, you have learned to set different SharePoint permissions to better control who can access what. You have seen the best option to keep a good overview of permissions is to group users and treat permissions per groups rather than individuals. With this newfound knowledge, why not tighten security for your shared folders? Perhaps create a group for top management, and set them as groups with permission to view the folder’s content? 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