Let’s talk about something that gives every SharePoint person nightmares: permissions. It’s the digital equivalent of handing out keys to your house. Who gets a key? Do they get the key to the front door, the bedroom, or just the garden shed? And most importantly, are you sure you know who has which key?
If you’ve ever woken up in a cold sweat wondering if you just shared the entire company’s salary information with an intern, this one’s for you. The rise of AI and Copilot has everyone talking about security, but let’s be real: we’ve been sitting on a mountain of risk in SharePoint for years. Most organizations have a permissions structure that looks like a plate of spaghetti – a tangled, confusing mess.
So, let’s untangle it. I’m going to break down SharePoint permissions in a way that won’t make you want to poke your eyes out. No boring jargon, just the real-world stuff you need to know.
The Who, What, and Where of SharePoint Permissions
Think of SharePoint permissions like a VIP list for a club. You’ve got different levels of access, and you need to decide who gets to go where.
The “Where” (Shareable Objects):
- Sites: The whole club.
- Lists & Libraries: The different rooms in the club (the dance floor, the VIP lounge).
- Folders: The velvet-roped sections within a room
- Items & Documents: The individual tables and chairs
The “Who” (The People & Groups):
- Entra ID Users: Individual people on your guest list.
- SharePoint Groups: Your pre-defined cliques (the cool kids, the nerds, the ones who only drink water).
- Entra ID & M365 Groups: The bigger, more official posses.
The “What” (Permission Levels):
This is what people can actually do once they’re in the club.
- Read: They can look, but they can’t touch. They can see the party, but they can’t join in.
- Contribute: They can add to the party. They can bring their own snacks and put them on the table.
- Edit: They’re the party planners. They can rearrange the furniture, change the music, and even kick people out of their section.
- Full Control: They’re the club owners. They can do whatever they want, whenever they want.
- Limited Access: This is the weird one. It’s like giving someone a key that only works if they’re blindfolded and hopping on one foot. SharePoint uses this to let people get to a specific file you’ve shared without letting them see anything else. You don’t usually mess with this one directly.
The Beautiful, Terrifying Magic of Inheritance
By default, SharePoint permissions flow downhill like a waterfall. Whatever permissions you set at the top (the site), everything below it (libraries, folders, files) inherits them. It’s simple, it’s clean, it’s beautiful.
Until it’s not.
When the Waterfall Dries Up: Breaking Inheritance
This is where the horror stories begin. You can, at any point, dam the waterfall. You can stop the flow of permissions and give a specific library, folder, or even a single file its own unique set of permissions. This is called breaking inheritance.
It sounds innocent enough. You just want to share one little file with someone from another department. So you break inheritance, add that one person, and go about your day. But every time you do this, you create a new permission scope. And these little scopes start to add up.
Before you know it, your beautiful, simple waterfall has turned into a swamp of stagnant ponds, each with its own weird ecosystem of permissions. It becomes impossible to know who has access to what. This is how data leaks happen. This is how you end up with 50,000 unique permissions in a single library (yes, that’s the limit, and I’ve seen people get terrifyingly close).
A word of warning from someone who’s seen the dark side: Try to avoid breaking inheritance unless you absolutely have to. And if you do, be aware of the mess you’re creating. It’s a debt you’ll have to pay back later.
Team Sites vs. Communication Sites: Not All Sites Are Created Equal
To make things even more fun, SharePoint gives us different types of sites that handle permissions differently.
Modern Team Sites: These are your collaboration hubs. They’re backed by a Microsoft 365 Group, which is just a fancy way of saying there’s a bouncer at the door. You have Owners (who have full control) and Members (who can edit). It’s a party where everyone is invited to dance.
Modern Communication Sites: These are your broadcast channels. Think of them as a stage where only a few people have a microphone, and everyone else is in the audience. You have a small number of people creating content, and a large number of people reading it. There’s no M365 Group here, just the classic SharePoint groups (Owners, Members, Visitors).
Understanding the difference is key. You don’t want to use a Communication Site for a team project, and you don’t want to use a Team Site for your company intranet. That’s like trying to have a rave in a library. It’s just not going to work.
And Then Came Teams…
Just when you thought you had a handle on things, Microsoft Teams crashed the party. And it brought its own set of rules.
Every time you create a Team, a SharePoint site is automatically created behind the scenes. And every time you create a private or shared channel, another SharePoint site is created. It’s a beautiful, seamless integration that can also create a permissions nightmare if you’re not paying attention.
Suddenly, you’re not just managing SharePoint permissions. You’re managing Teams permissions, which are connected to SharePoint permissions, which are connected to M365 Group permissions. It’s a Russian doll of permissions, and it’s easy to get lost.
The Wild World of Sharing Links
And finally, we have sharing links. The easiest way to share content, and also the easiest way to lose control of it.
I’ll be doing a deep dive on sharing links in a future post, but for now, just know that not all links are created equal. You have links that work for anyone, links that only work for people in your organization, and links that only work for specific people. Choosing the right one is crucial.
It’s a Mess, But It’s Our Mess
Look, SharePoint permissions can be a beast. But it’s a beast that can be tamed. It takes planning, it takes governance, and it takes a willingness to clean up the messes of the past.
If you’re looking at your own SharePoint environment and seeing a tangled web of permissions, don’t despair. You’re not alone. And I’m here to help.
My Fix the Mess™ methodology is designed for exactly this kind of situation. It’s a proven, human-centered approach to information architecture that will help you fix your SharePoint mess and prepare for the AI-powered future.
Whether you’re just starting out with the free Copilot Readiness Checklist or you’re ready to dive deep with the Fix the Mess™ Masterclass and the brand new Fix the Mess™ Studio, I’ve got the tools and the expertise to guide you.
Let’s turn your permissions nightmare into a well-structured dream. Head over to fixthemess.ai and let’s get started.
