Sharing a File or Folder

You can share files with other people or teams.

Context

To share files and folders with other users or teams, you grant them the following permissions (note that some permissions apply only to folders):

  • Read
  • Copy
  • View Comment
  • Add Comment
  • Update
  • Create files
  • Create folders
  • Maintain
  • Delete
  • Delete Comment
  • Share
Note
To be able to share items with others, you need share permission on those items, and you also need to have at least the Read permission for users or teams.

You can grant the above individual permissions, or one of the predefined access levels (the permissions included in the access level depend on the file or folder that's being shared):

Access Level Permissions Included
View Read, Copy, View Comment, Add Comment
Edit Update, Create files, Create folders, Maintain
Full Control Delete, Share, Delete Comment

Procedure

  1. Go to the Files page: Start of the navigation path Main Menu Next navigation step  Browse Next navigation step  FilesEnd of the navigation path.
  2. Select one or more files or folders, and click (Share).
  3. Type the names of users or teams whom you want to share your files with.
    As you type, the available user and team names are shown.
  4. Select the access type you want to assign for those users.

    If you select the Custom access level, you can set access permissions at a more granular level.

    For example, if you grant the predefined Full Control access level to a user, that user automatically gets both Delete and Share permissions. But if you choose Custom, you can grant that user the Delete privilege but not the Share privilege:

    Note
    • If copy permission is enabled, read permission will also be enabled.

    • The Public Folder itself can’t be deleted or copied, but administrators can assign copy and delete permissions on the folder so that items that are created in this folder will inherit the sharing permissions by default.
  5. If you want to propagate the sharing settings for a folder to subfolders and other files within the folder, select the Share existing subfolders and files check box.

    The check box is always selected by default.

    This option does not persist and is only applied at the time the folder is shared. For example, any subfolders and files that exist at the time this option is applied will inherit the permissions granted to the folder. Any new subfolders or files will inherit the sharing settings applied to its parent folder. However, if you modify the sharing settings on the parent folder, and do not select Share existing subfolders and files, the new sharing settings will not be applied to any subfolders or files contained in the folder, and all subfolders and files will retain their original sharing settings.

  6. If you want to email people to let them know that you are sharing with them, select Email new recipients.

    The check box is selected by default when adding individual users. If you choose to add all of the users, the option is not available. The users will still receive a notification in the system, but they won't receive an email.

    An email will be sent the first time the file is shared with someone. If you later change their access rights, they will receive a notification in the system, but they won't receive an email.

  7. Choose Share.
    Expand the Shared with list to see details about the sharing settings. You can also delete and edit the sharing settings here.
    To edit the sharing settings for specific teams and users, select the team or user. You can choose one of the following options from the menu:
    • Copy from parent - Copy all the sharing settings from parent. This option, this synchronizes all sharing settings for the parent, subfolders and files in the folder.
      Note
      • The option appears if no users or teams in the list have been selected.
      • If the folder does not have a parent, this option will not appear.
      • If you select this option for the Public folder, the folder's original sharing settings will be restored and any modifications you have made to the sharing settings on the Public folder will be reset. The settings on the Public folder are always applied to all users.
    • Apply to subfolders - Give the selected team or user the same access they have been given to the current folder, to all subfolders.
    • View - Give view access to the selected teams and users.
    • Edit - Give edit permissions to the selected teams and users.
    • Full Control - Give full access to the selected teams and users.
    • Custom - Modify the custom access level for the selected teams and users.

    Users and teams that have inherited sharing permissions from the parent folder are shown with this icon:

  8. Select Close.
    On the Files page, shared files appear with this icon beside their names: .
    Note
    • When you create, copy, move, or restore a file or folder, it automatically inherits the sharing permissions of the parent folder.
    • Moved files and folders retain their own explicit sharing permissions, but any permissions inherited from their original folders are replaced with the new folder's permissions.
    • Copied files and folders don't retain their own explicit sharing permissions. Any permissions inherited from their original folders are replaced with the new folder's permissions.
    • Only users who have Full Control are able to move files and folders.