How to Add Permissions to SharePoint Site? [Helpful Guide]
SharePoint administrators should also be well aware of how to add permissions to SharePoint site. In SharePoint, organizations store and manage the crucial data that should be protected from unnecessary users. A layer of security should be there to protect the data integrity and it can be done by the permissions only.
In this article, we simplify the process of adding permissions to the SharePoint sites. So, let’s get started.
Table of Content
Types of Access in SharePoint
SharePoint grants three kinds of access: user, group, and site-level. User-level is personalized; group-level is collective, and site-level is specific to a segment.
Controlling access means managing who can view, edit, or delete data. SharePoint provides custom security features but is dependent on corporate policy. Allocating the right permissions can help ensure the right balance between ease of use and safety. Multi-factor authentication can also help with security.
Check your organization’s policies concerning SharePoint. Involve IT specialists to determine user/group/site settings for optimal productivity without compromising security.
Classification of Sites in SharePoint
Before going to discuss how to add permissions to SharePoint site. It is crucial to know the types of sites in SharePoint Online.
- Team Sites: SharePoint Team Sites are very useful for collaboration within the team or department. Users can collaborate on document libraries, lists, calendars, and discussions. If you add a member to Team Sites they can be a part of the Microsoft 365 group associated with SharePoint.
- Communication Sites: It is widely used for announcements or broadcasting a message to a large audience. Communication sites provide features like web pages, new pos, and document libraries for broadcasting information. Unlike Team Sites, Communication Sites are not part of Microsoft 365 groups.
- Hub Sites: It is used as a central hub for organizing different sites of SharePoint within the organization. It is widely used by knowledge-based management and site organization teams for navigation and cross-site search capabilities.
- Custom Sites: This site is useful for designing your sites according to the company’s needs and compliances. With this feature, you can customize the site layout, user mapping, and site functionality.
- Classic Team Sites: It is used in the early days for basic document management and limited collaboration. It is recommended if you are using the classic team sites then you should migrate to the current version of the team site for better compatibility and features.
Types of Permissions Level in SharePoint Sites
SharePoint permissions are essential for controlling access to resources within a SharePoint site. Let’s explore the default permission levels:
- Full Control Permission: It provides the highest level of access and allows to manage site settings, permissions, and content. With this permission, users can create subsites and manage lists and libraries.
- Design Permission: In this type of permission user can view, add, update, delete, approve, and customize the SharePoint sites. This permission is assigned for site customization and management.
- Edit: Grants users the ability to add, edit, and delete items within lists and libraries. Users with this permission level can contribute content and collaborate with others by modifying existing content. Project team members and content creators typically have this permission level.
- Contribute: Users with this SharePoint permission level can upload documents, and participate in discussions, along with being able to add, edit, manage, and control versions of a document. Users with this permission level cannot tamper with site structure.
- Read: It is the lowest permission level. With this permission, users can view pages and items in lists and libraries. Users with this permission level can download documents and view the content (but can’t modify any content).
- Limited Access: This Permission grants users to access specific content within a site while restricting access to the overall site. External collaborators and junior-level team members typically have this permission level.
- Approve: With approved permission, users can review and approve content, such as documents or list items. They can also edit or delete items. Managers, quality control personnel, and external stakeholders (such as clients) typically have this permission level.
- Custom: With the Custom Permission level you can create and design permission according to the company’s needs and regulations.
How to Add Permissions to SharePoint Sites?
There are different ways to add permissions to the SharePoint sites. All the permissions of the SharePoint sites vary as per the demand of the organizations. For instance, if your organization is managing a SharePoint site to track the sales. Then there might be the chances that the organization wants to give access to this site only to the senior employees.
Let’s take another example, suppose an organization creates a site to display announcements means they want to give access to all of the users. Let’s deep dive into the details of the permissions of the SharePoint sites.
1. Default Permissions in SharePoint Sites
If you are already aware of how to create a SharePoint site in Office 365. Then you might observe the two options: Communication Site or Team Site while creating SharePoint sites. You can choose anyone depends upon your requirements. You have three default permissions in both cases: Owners, Members, and Visitors.
- Owners – Site owners have overall control of the SharePoint sites.
- Members – They are limited to editing or accessing the SharePoint files on the site.
- Visitors – Visitors can only read the site’s content.
These are the default permissions that you can access while creating the SharePoint sites. Now, move to the other ways to add permissions to SharePoint sites.
Note:- SharePoint follows the top-down permissions approach. It states that files and folder permissions are the same as their parent folders.
2. How to Add Permissions to SharePoint Site According to Necessity?
After knowing the default permissions in SharePoint, this is the time to add custom permissions. But make sure you are aware of how to create custom permission in SharePoint Online.
- Click on the Settings icon and then Site Permissions.
- Choose Advanced Settings.
- In the permissions tab, click on the Permissions Levels.
- Now, you can see all of the permissions here.
- Start creating the new permission: Assigning Name, Description, and then choose the desired permission. Then Save.
Add Users to Sites
You can add users to the SharePoint sites with the below steps.
- Open the SharePoint site settings > Site Permissions.
- Hit the option of Add members to add the users to the SharePoint sites.
- Here you can make them owners, members, or visitors as per requirement.
On the other hand,
You can use the Advanced Permissions Settings to add groups of users to the SharePoint site. if you know how to create groups in SharePoint.
- After clicking on the Advanced settings option.
- Hit the Grant Permissions option.
- Search for the group that you want to add.
- Send the email invitation to the group members and then Share.
3. How to Add Permissions to SharePoint Site’s Document Libraries?
As we have discussed above the document library follows the permissions settings of its parent site. But if you want to customize its permissions then
- Open the Document Library > Settings.
- Click on the Library Settings.
- Choose Permissions for this document library option.
- Firstly click on the Stop Inheriting permissions to make the document library permissions unique.
- Now, you can modify its permissions as site permissions.
Folder and Files Permissions
The Folder and file permissions are also inherited from the parent document library. To modify them open their settings. Then Stop inheriting Permissions and start modifying them.
WalkArounds
Assigning permission to a user or groups on SharePoint raises the risk of security such as data steal, unwanted changes, and unethical information sharing. To prevent these issues, you should apply effective security measures such as Multi-Factor Authentication, Information Rights Management, regular reviews and audits, etc.
One major challenge users face while working on Classical Team Sites, is not compatible with current data complexities. It is highly recommended to all the users who are working on Classical team sites to go for new Team Sites by performing SharePoint tenant to tenant migration. To migrate SharePoint, experts recommend the Migrator Wizard SharePoint Migration Tool for reliable and flexible migration in simple steps.
Conclusion
SharePoint is one of the powerful tools of Microsoft for collaboration. You can easily collaborate with others by giving access to the SharePoint sites. But do not forget to assign the permissions to the needy users only. Hence the query on how to add permissions to SharePoint site is resolved.
FAQ
Q1. How can I revoke permissions from a user or group if necessary?
A – To revoke permissions from a user or group in SharePoint, follow the steps
- Navigate to the site settings.
- Go to site permissions, and click on advanced site permissions.
- Find the user or group you want to modify, and select “Revoke Permissions.”
Q2. Can I convert a site from one type to another?
A – Yes, you can convert a site from one type to another in SharePoint. However, this process may involve some limitations and considerations, such as data loss or changes to site structure.
Q3. How can I monitor and audit activity on my SharePoint site?
A – You can monitor and audit activity on your SharePoint site using: SharePoint audit logs Microsoft 365 Defender feature and Third-party auditing tools.
Q4. How can I prevent accidental deletion or modification of important data in SharePoint?
A – Prevent accidental deletion or modification of important data in SharePoint by enabling version history and implementing data retention policies. Also, use SharePoint’s Recycle Bin and Consider using SharePoint’s information rights management (IRM) features.