Managing permissions and shared links in SharePoint

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This article guides SharePoint owners and administrators. It guides on changing permissions in SharePoint to let the right people access your data.

Find more information about SharePoint and SharePoint Online for site owners in the following pages:

Permissions

The following content is an extract from the page SharePoint Online - As a site owner how do I ... ? - section "Manage site members and sharing permissions".

Access levels of permissions

In order to be able to access a SharePoint Online (SPO) site you have to be given permission by a site owner. Permissions are grouped into 3 access levels:

Owners
Members
and Visitors.

Each access level has a predetermined set of allowable site activities. You can find guidance about that on the page:

Owners

Members

Visitors

Allowable site activities

Maintain site permissions

Create / amend site pages, document libraries, lists

Create / amend document library files and list items

Upload / download site content

Create / amend document library files and list items

Upload / download site content

Read / download document library files and list items

Number of members

Small, at least 2

Large, for example a departmental team

Very large, for example the whole University community

Permissions are inherited

Permission to access content within a SPO site is normally managed at site level, for example your site access rights cascade from the site through a document library to a specific folder and / or file.

As a site owner you can decide to set up a document library or list that has unique access, as a document library containing files that should only be accessed by the Senior Leadership team.

Please note: it is easier to manage unique permissions at library or list level rather than at folder or item level.

Notes for site owners and members

Site owners and members can share or update permissions for their communication site following the instructions published on the page “Share or update permissions for your communication site”.

Please note: when creating a SharePoint Online site, if owners select “Public” (rather than the default Private), they are giving everybody in the University (including students and visitors) edit rights without any prior authorization. Find more information about that on the page "Creating a SharePoint Online site - a best practice guide" - section 4.

How to set Permissions in SharePoint Online

Open the homepage of your site.
Select Settings (cog icon), and then Site permissions.
You will then see:
1. The button “Invite people”: this allows you to invite other people to collaborate
2. The section “Site owners”: the people listed here have full control
3. The section “Site members”: they can edit and add to the site but not make general changes (like the site’s look and feel) to the site
4. The sections “Site visitors”:
Select the button “Invite people”
Select “Add Members to Group” from the drop-down menu. The person / colleague you are adding will be able to edit and add documents to the site
Now select the button “Add members”
Enter their name and select it from your list of contacts
Save
The person added will appear within the member’s list. Select their name to make them members, owners or to remove them from the group
Once finished, close the “Group membership” box by pressing the X button on the top.
Close the “Site permission” box by pressing the X button on the top.

View the Permissions on a library or list

Go to the library or list and open it.
Select Settings (cog icon), and then Library settings or List settings.
Under Permissions and Management, select Permissions for this document library or Permissions for this list.
From there you can manage your permissions

Change permissions levels in SharePoint

Go to Permissions for this document library, as described in the section above
In the Name list, select the checkbox next to the name of the user or group you want
Select the button Edit User Permissions
Under Permissions, check the box for the permission level you want.

It is possible to create custom permissions - for example, allowing certain groups of people the ability to deposit files but not edit or delete them. Please contact iSolutions for advice and guidance on doing this.

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Sharing files

The following content is an extract from the page “SharePoint Online - As a site user how do I ... ? - section "Sharing files".

As the name suggests SharePoint sites are designed to share information between your site members. Site access is governed by permission groups, namely:

Owners,
Members
Visitors.

Each group has a different level of access, as shown below:

Permission Group	Permission Level	Description
Visitors	Read	View site pages View / Open Items in libraries and lists View Versions of library items Create Alerts
Members	Edit	Read permissions plus: Add, edit, and delete items in libraries and lists Delete Versions
Owners	Full Control	Edit permissions plus Add and customise site pages

Giving colleagues permission to a site normally gives them access to all site content.

If you need to share an individual file or folder outside of the normal site membership, you can do so with shareable links.

Sharing options available: choose the right receiver

There are three types of links you can share:

Anyone links (only available in OneDrive) give access to the item to anyone who has the link, including people outside of the University community. People using an Anyone link don't have to authenticate, and their access can't be audited. This means that the link can be passed on without your knowledge.
People in the University of Southampton links work for only people inside the University. When somebody opens a people in my organization link, they will be authenticated as a member of the University. If they are not currently signed in, they will be prompted to sign in.
People with existing access links can be used by people who already have access to the document or folder. You can use it to send a link to somebody who already has access. Please note: this option does not change any permissions and it does not share the link.
Specific people links only work for the people that users specify when they share the item. The link will not work if it is opened by anybody except for the person specified by the sender. The recipient will need to authenticate as the user specified in the link. Note: this is the preferred option for colleagues external to the University.

Please note that most sharing links do not expire. Only 'Anyone with the link' expires at the date added.

You can also have more than one type of sharing link active. For example, you can have one link for people to view and another link for people to edit.

Select the Details pane to view, copy, amend or delete your share links.

How to share a file

Sharing files with colleagues

Read the Microsoft Support article “Share SharePoint files or folders” to find guidance on:

Sharing a file with specific people
Sharing a file by using the function “Copy link”

Sharing documents on the University of Southampton website

Owners and members can share documents with a global public following the article “Sharing documents publicly from SharePoint Online and OneDrive”.

Remove permissions for files already shared

You can quickly remove your permissions by following the steps below:

Go to the Documents folder within SharePoint
Select the file
Go to the Share button on the top of the page
Select the ellipsis (…)
Then choose Manage access from the drop-down menu. That will open the manage access window on the right-hand side of your screen
Go to the “Links giving access” section
Go to the ellipsis (…)
Press the X near the “Copy” button. This action will delete the shared link and anyone who used it to access that file is not going to be able to do that anymore