TROUBLESHOOTING 101 for 365 | SHAREPOINT - CHECKING ITEM PERMISSIONS

#Microsoft365, #access, #permissions, #problemidentification, #SharePoint, #OneDrive

Author: Jonathan Stuckey

This article is part of the series trouble-identification, diagnostics and recovery of SharePoint issues. Access and permissions problems are the single most frequent source of helpdesk tickets and issues in a SharePoint deployment. This article tackles the issue from a diagnostic and root-cause issue for level-1 support personnel.

How to confirm permissions for a user or a group on specific document or list-item. 

This is a recurring requirement for experienced and novice SharePoint site Owners, Members and administrators. Microsoft's own support articles are pretty good for basic steps in modern (see Reference articles) but do not provide next level of self-help on permission checking and management. This How-to takes a step-by-step view of basic permission troubleshooting.

Investigating permissions on content

i. navigate to the library or list that you need to validate item permissions

ii. high-light item (but don't open it)

iii. open Details pane (also known as the properties panel)

iv. look for 'Manage Access' in the pane

4 clicks to get to Item permissions in a SharePoint library

v. click on the manage access link to see specific user-access and permissions on this 1 item

the pop-up dialogue shows you access - if you have the rights to see the properties e.g. 

Document Access and Permissions dialogue

But to confirm exactly what cumulative permissions a user or group has:

vi. scroll to the bottom of the manage access dialogue box

vii. click Advanced link

Document Access and Permissions dialogue - Groups

Classic permissions management interface provides additional functions, including validating what exact permissions a user or group have, and managing changing or resetting Unique permissions

Restoring inherited permissions through Classic UI

viii. click on Check Permissions button, and enter a user's name in the dialogue presented

ix. confirm expected permissions (before dismissing dialogue-box)

NOTICE: 

With SharePoint Online the Modern user-interface can take several minutes to refresh before showing changes. This can be extremely confusing for users and administrators alike. 

ALWAYS try closing and re-opening all browsers to check if permissions have been applied, before diagnosing incorrect permissions being applied. 

Reference articles:

Microsoft's help article steps: See who a file is shared with in OneDrive or SharePoint (microsoft.com)

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About the author: Jonathan Stuckey