Hey all! I'm new to SharePoint and I'm trying to set up a document library for my company. My plan is to have a main corporate folder that only I and the CEO can access, with subfolders for each project that we share with specific team members. For example, the main folder would be 'Corporate', and then inside it, we'd have 'Project1' shared with Jim and 'Project2' shared with Paul. However, I'm running into a problem where even though I've tried stopping inheritance, Paul can still access 'Project1', and Jim can access 'Project2'. Is there something I'm missing, or is this just a limitation of SharePoint? Ideally, I want each team member to only see the projects they're assigned to without the distraction of others' files.
2 Answers
Honestly, I'd suggest reconsidering this approach. Managing folder access can become a total headache. Each time you create a new folder, you’ll find yourself breaking inheritance and setting up new permissions. If the need to hide projects from each other is crucial—like a legal obligation—you might want to structure your site with separate project sites under a hub site instead. It's way easier to manage that way!
From what I know, SharePoint doesn’t have the perfect equivalent of NTFS permissions like 'this folder only, no sub-items'. To get that functionality, you’ll need to adjust permissions for each folder individually. That means breaking inheritance and managing access for every project separately. Regular staff will need at least read access to the root folder, though.
Unfortunately, yes—it's not just a preference; it's a strict requirement for us. I also believe limiting access helps prevent people from messing with data they shouldn't touch and reduces the chances of accidental deletions.