Sharepoint 2007 : Managing Security - See What Permissions Are Set

To check what permissions are set on a file or list item, you must have the right to manage permissions on the file or item. If you don’t have the permissions, you do not see the option to manage them. The Manage Permissions option is in the drop-down box for the file or list item (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Use the Manage Permissions option to see what permissions are set on a file or item.

Selecting this option opens a page that shows the permissions for the file or item you’re looking at (see Figure 2). On this page you can see what permissions each user or group of users has on the file or item.

Figure 2. The manage permissions page.

The name of the file or title for the item appears in the page’s title, after the word Permissions. This information helps you make sure you are viewing the permissions for the right file or item. The name of the user or group is in the first column, and the type (identifying whether it is a user or group) is in the second column. In the last column, you can see the permission set that the user or group has on the item or file. Depending on the configuration of your server, other columns with more information about the user or group also appear.

For example, in Figure 2, people in the Portal Visitors group can only read the file or item because they have only the Read permission, whereas Portal Owners can do everything to the file or item (including managing the permissions on it, deleting it, and so on) because they have the Full Control permission set. The user ISHAI-SERVER\Administrator is shown to have Limited Access permissions. This type of permission can mean different things in different sites but usually means read-only permission.

It is important to note that if permissions are given to a group and then separately to a user, if that user is a member of the group, the higher permission level wins. For example, suppose user A is a member of group B, and group B has Full Control permissions on an item. Although user A was given just Read access, because user A is a member of group B, that user also has full control of the item, and not just Read access. The same would apply if the situation were reversed: If user A has Full Access and that user is a member of group B, which has Read-Only access, the user still has full access to the item.

Check Permissions on Lists and Libraries

To be able to check what permissions are set on a list or library, you must have the permissions to manage the list or library. If you do not have the right permissions, you do not see the option to manage the permissions. To get to the Manage Permissions option in a list or library, click the Settings button from the toolbar for that list. From the drop-down menu that appears, select Document Library Settings (if it is a document library) or List Settings (if it is a list).

Selecting this option takes you to the list management page. On this page find the Permissions for This List link or Permissions for This Document Library link and click it (see Figure 3).

Figure 3. The list management page offers options for setting permissions.

Selecting this link takes you to the list or library management page (see Figure 4). On this page you can see what permissions each user or group of users has on the list or library.

Figure 4. The list or library management page shows user and group permissions.

The name of the user or group appears in the first column, and the type (identifying whether it is a user or a group) appears in the second column. In the last column, you can see the permission set that the user or group has on the library.

For example, in Figure 4, people in the Portal Visitors group can only read items in the list or library because they have only the Read permission, whereas Portal Owners can do everything in the document library (including managing the permissions on it) because they have the Full Control permission set.

As with permissions on files or items, it is important to note that when a user is given more than one permission set—because that user is part of a group that has a different permission set—that user gets the higher permission set. In the example in Figure 4, if the user ISHAI-SERVER\Administrator is part of the Portal Owners group, that user has full control over the document library or list because the higher permission level of the group overrides the lower permission level of the user.