I have a NetApp file share mapped to users through Group Policy. A user recently created several folders on the share, but another user could not see them. The folders are located beneath a parent folder that the second user can access, and permissions appear to be inherited through the parent and child folders. What could cause these folders to be invisible even though the user seems to have access?
4 Answers
Review both the share permissions and the NTFS Security permissions, and confirm they match what you expect. Avoid granting Full Control unless it is genuinely required; use the least-privilege permissions needed for the users' tasks.
Offline Files or client-side caching can sometimes make a mapped share appear out of date. It is worth checking whether Offline Files is enabled on the affected workstation, although that does not appear to be configured in this case.
Check whether inheritance was disabled or blocked somewhere lower in the folder structure. Also verify whether access-based enumeration is enabled, since it can hide files and folders from users who do not have the required permissions. As a quick test, give the affected user the complete folder path and have them paste it into the Windows Run dialog. If they can open it directly, the issue may be visibility or enumeration rather than basic access.
Also check the folder attributes in Windows Explorer. The folders may have been marked Hidden, which can make them appear missing even when the user has permission to access them.
Offline Files is not configured on these clients, so I will focus on inheritance, access-based enumeration, and the folder attributes next.