Sharing and privacy

Who can open a page, how access flows down a branch, and what happens when you move something.

Docs uses three access levels — View, Edit and Full edit. There is no Interact level here, since there is nothing to comment on or be assigned.

Level	What it allows
View	Open and read. No editing, no creating
Edit	Write in pages, create things inside, rename, archive
Full edit	All of the above, plus share, pin, move, delete, and mark as wiki

You do not share page by page. Access is owned by a branch — normally a space or a folder — and everything inside it inherits.

That is why opening Permissions on a page usually shows a blue note saying it inherits from the folder above it. Change anything there — visibility, a member, a level — and the page becomes independent: from that moment it carries its own audience and the folder above no longer decides who gets in.

Sharing a folder makes it an island

It is the useful move when one folder inside an otherwise open space should be restricted, or the other way round. It also means the folder stops tracking the space, so later changes to the space do not reach it.

Private and public

Open Permissions on a space, folder, page or file — from the ⋯ menu in the tree, or the button in a page's header.

Private means only the creator and the people invited can open it. It is invisible rather than locked: someone without access does not see it in the tree, in the Everything list, or anywhere else. When it is private you also pick a default permission for new invites, so adding five people at View is one choice rather than five.

Public means everyone in the workspace can access it.

Public means everyone can write

A public docs branch gives every workspace member Edit on it — not read-only. They can write, rename and add pages. What they cannot do is change who has access, or delete anything in it — including pages they wrote themselves. Deleting needs Full edit.

When you want people to read something without changing it, keep it private and add them at View, or set the branch's default to View when you share it.

New top-level spaces start private to whoever created them, so a new space is yours until you decide to open it.

People

Below the visibility toggle is the member list: the creator first, then everyone who has been added, each with their own level. Search the workspace to add someone, set their level before you apply, and remove anyone who should no longer be there.

On an item that inherits, that list is read-only — those people belong to the folder above. Adding someone here is what turns the item into its own branch.

Whoever creates a branch starts with Full edit on it. That is a floor, not a guarantee — it is there so a new branch is never left with nobody who can manage it. Add the creator to the list at a lower level later and the level you gave them is the one that applies.

Writing a page does not make it yours to delete

The Full edit floor belongs to whoever created the branch, not to whoever wrote each page inside it. So a member who adds a page to someone else's public folder has Edit there, and Edit cannot delete — not even the page they just wrote.

They keep Full edit on their own top-level docs and folders, because creating one creates a branch. If you want someone to be able to delete their work inside a shared folder, give them Full edit on that folder, or set the folder's default level to Full edit when you share it.

Pinning also grants access

Pinning a page to a workspace space, folder or project gives that location's people access to the doc. That is the whole point of pinning — the doc appears in their sidebar where the work is, and it opens.

It does not make the doc public. A private page pinned to a project is reachable by that project's people and nobody else.

Something you deliberately shared carries its audience with it. Move it anywhere and the same people keep the same access.
Something that was only inheriting picks up its new parent's sharing when it lands.
Pull an item out to the top level and it keeps the audience it already had, so it does not go dark on the people who were using it.

Moving needs Full edit on both ends — where the item comes from and where it goes. Rearranging the tree changes it for everyone, so it is treated like sharing rather than like typing.

Owners and admins

Role	In Docs
Workspace owner	Sees and manages everything, including private docs they were never added to
Admin	Full edit on anything they can already reach — but private docs stay invisible unless they were added
Member	Exactly what has been shared with them

Who can do what

Action	Level needed
Open and read	View
Write in a page, rename it	Edit
Create a folder, page or sub-page inside something	Edit on that branch
Archive or unarchive	Edit
Change private/public, add or remove people	Full edit
Pin to a workspace location	Full edit
Move, or drag-and-drop	Full edit on both ends
Mark as wiki	Full edit
Delete (including your own pages)	Full edit
Create a space at the top of the tree	Owner or admin
Move or reorder a space at the top level	Owner or admin
Move or reorder a page or file at the top level	Full edit on it

Roles and permissions

The same model across tasks, docs, dashboards, chat and attendance.

Organising docs

Create, move, pin, archive and delete.

Frequently asked questions

Do I share every page separately?

No. Sharing is set on a branch — a space or a folder — and everything inside it follows. Share one page separately only when it genuinely needs a different audience.

I made a folder public. Can people edit it?

Yes. Public in Docs means everyone in the workspace gets Edit on that branch — they can write and add pages, but not change who has access or delete anything, including pages they wrote themselves. Deleting needs Full edit. If you want people to read without changing anything, keep it private and add them at View, or set the branch's default to View.

Can admins see my private docs?

No. Admins run the workspace but do not automatically get into private docs they were not added to. The workspace owner is the exception — they can see everything.

A member says they cannot delete a page they wrote. Why?

Deleting needs Full edit, and the Full edit floor goes to whoever created the branch — not to whoever wrote each page in it. Someone who adds a page to another person's public folder only has Edit there, so they cannot delete it. Give them Full edit on that folder, or set the folder's default level to Full edit. Their own top-level docs and folders are unaffected, because creating one creates a branch.

Someone can't open a page I sent them. What do I check?

Open the item's Permissions dialog. If it says it inherits from a folder, the person needs access to that folder — or you give the page its own sharing here, which makes it independent from then on.

What happens to sharing when I move something?

Something you deliberately shared keeps its own audience wherever it goes. Something that was only inheriting picks up its new parent's sharing instead.

Keep reading

Organising docsCreate, rename, move, pin, tag, archive and delete — everything you do to the tree rather than inside a page.Writing a pageThe editor — blocks, the slash menu, formatting, tables, images and files, and how saving works.