Manage Folder Permissions in SharePoint using User Groups

Owned by Ethan Caya (Deactivated)
Last updated: Aug 17, 2023 by Dan Jakubiak
3 min read

If you have chosen to create User Groups in SharePoint, you may use them to manage permissions at the folder level. Folders and files in SharePoint sites have multiple levels of permissions. Site owners can change these settings at any time.

For support on creating a user group, visit: Create SharePoint User Group.

This guide covers:

  • Editing a User Group’s access to a folder

  • Removing a User Group from a folder

  • Adding a User Group to a folder

Altering permissions of a folder

You may add a custom group to a folder. You may also re-add a site default group to a folder if it was removed in the past.

An “Owner” group cannot be removed from a folder. If you need to isolate a folder from Owners, you will need to create a discrete SharePoint site and store the data there. Do not add that user(s) as Owners on this new site.

  1. Open a web browser and navigate to your SharePoint site’s website. You may also use s.uconn.edu/sharepoint as a shortcut to your SharePoint home page.

  2. Enter your site and find the folder you want to alter the permissions of. Do not open the folder.

  3. Right click on the folder and click on Manage Access. Click on the Groups tab in the window.

  4. You are now looking at the groups who have access to the folder.

  5. Editing Access: If you would like to change the access level for a group in this folder, click on the text to the right of their group name.

    1. This text will say “Can edit” or “Can view”, denoting their current access.

    2. Click on Direct Access to open the drop-down menu. Click on the new drop-down menu to change their access level.

    3. Removing Access: Click on Remove direct access if this group should not have any access to the folder. Doing so will make the folder invisible to the group.

  6. Click Apply.

Adding a User Group that does not appear in the list

If you have a custom User Group, or if you would like to restore access for a default group that you have previously removed, you can do so in the “Advanced settings” menu in the Manage Access window.

  1. Follow the steps above to get to the Manage Access window of the folder you wish to alter.

  2. Click on the ellipsis (…) at the top of the window. Click on Advanced settings.

  3. In this new webpage, click on Stop Inheriting Permissions. This allows you to add custom permissions, instead of having the folder receive permissions from its parent folder.

    1. If you instead see “Delete unique permissions”, this means the folder has already stopped the inheritance. If you want to reset permissions on this folder, you can click this Delete button and then click on the Stop button mentioned above.

  4. Click on Grant Permissions and then use the popup window to enter the name of your User Group.

    1. Take a look at the check box below, “Share everything in this folder, even items with unique permissions”, and decide if any subfolders should remain hidden (by following this same process, a subfolder may have unique permissions).

    2. Click on SHOW OPTIONS to decided whether the users in this group should receive an email about this change..

  5. Click on Share when you are all set.

  6. If you refresh your page, you will see the new Group listed with the others.

  7. You may now follow the steps in the above section if you need to alter the permissions now given to this User Group.

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