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Documentation

Folder Permissions

Files.com makes it simple to control user access permissions for folders within your site. Access permissions are granted to users, groups, or partners.

For non-partner access, both user and group permissions layer together to provide additional customization. The end result for a user is the union of those permissions.

No matter which method you choose to assign folder access permissions, your changes will automatically apply to impacted users upon saving the permission. This is especially useful when adding a new folder permissions for all users within an existing group.

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:

PermissionDescriptionAlso Includes/Implies These Permissions
AdminFolder 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
FullAble 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/WriteAble 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
ReadAble to list, preview, and download files and folders. Can view custom metadata.List, Preview
WriteAble 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/PreviewAble 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
ListAble to list files and folders, but not download.None
ShareAble to share files and folders via a share link.Read, List
HistoryAble 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 folder permissions to will remove those privileges from all associated users, partners, and groups. Adding a new folder of the same name or restoring the folder will not restore those permissions; they must be granted again.

If the deleted folder was a user's FTP root folder, the folder will be automatically created when the user next logs in, but they will not have any 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 permissions or revoking existing permissions doesn’t immediately affect files already open in online editors, or during file previews at the time permissions are revoked. Permissions are revoked when the session expires or the browser tab is closed by the user.