Folder Permissions
Folder permissions control who can access folders within your site. You grant them to users, groups, or partners.
For non-partner access, user and group permissions layer together. The result for a user is the union of those permissions.
Permission changes apply to impacted users as soon as you save them. Adding a folder permission to an existing group propagates to every member of that group automatically.
When Workspaces are in use, folder permissions are scoped to the Workspace. Workspace Administrators assign folder permissions to users, groups, and partners within their Workspace. Site Administrators can assign folder permissions within any Workspace.
Permission Options
Site Administrators can assign users or groups the following permissions:
| Permission | Description | Also Includes/Implies These Permissions |
|---|---|---|
| Admin | Folder Admin access. Able to manage Folder Settings, Permissions, Automations, and Notifications for the folder. Also grants all other permissions. | Share, Full, Write, Read, List, Preview, History |
| Full | Able to read, write, move, delete, and rename files and folders. Can view, add, or modify custom metadata. Also grants the ability to overwrite files upon upload. | Write, Read, List, Preview |
| Read/Write | Able to list, preview, and download files and folders, and upload files and create folders. Allows files that have been recently uploaded in the current session to be updated, changed, appended to, and replaced. | Write, Read, List, Preview |
| Read | Able to list, preview, and download files and folders. Can view custom metadata. | List, Preview |
| Write | Able to upload files, create folders and list subfolders the user has write permission to. Allows files that have been recently uploaded in the current session to be updated, changed, appended to, and replaced. | None |
| List/Preview | Able to list files and folders and open supported previews in the web UI, allowing content viewing while blocking normal file download and direct access; this is a UI-level control, not a security feature, and does not prevent content capture or exfiltration through indirect methods. | List, Preview |
| List | Able to list files and folders, but not download. | None |
| Share | Able to share files and folders via a share link. | Read, List |
| History | Able to view the history of files and folders and to create email notifications for themselves. | List |
Moving a Folder with Granted Permissions
When a folder is moved on Files.com to a different location, all of its folder permissions and folder settings are updated to the new location.
For Remote Mounts, folder moves initiated from the remote server are not reflected in Files.com.
Deleting a Folder With Granted Permissions
Deleting a folder that has granted permissions removes those privileges from all associated users, partners, and groups. Adding a new folder of the same name or restoring the folder does not restore those permissions; you must grant them again.
If the deleted folder was a user's FTP root folder, the folder is automatically recreated when the user next logs in, but the user has no assigned rights for the folder.
Online Editors and File Previews
For editing documents in the Files.com editor and Microsoft Office for web, users must have Full permissions on the folder containing the file. Without Full permissions, users can open but not edit the document.
To preview files in the Files.com web interface, users need Read permissions as the file contents are transferred to the browser for rendering. Without Read permissions, users cannot view inline preview thumbnails or grid listings for images, PDFs, and documents.
Adding or revoking permissions does not immediately affect files already open in online editors or in active previews. The revocation takes effect when the user's session expires or the browser tab is closed.