Folder Permissions

Folder permissions in Egnyte allow admins and folder owners to control access to files and folders within the Egnyte domain. By setting up appropriate permissions, one can ensure that the data remains secure while facilitating collaboration among team members. In this article, we'll explore how to manage folder permissions effectively in Egnyte.

For further questions on how permissions work in Egnyte, please refer to the Permissions FAQs article.

Learn more by watching a short video about Granting Access with Folder Permissions. 

Add A Domain User or Group to Access a Folder

Add a User to Existing Group

Invite New User(s)

Remove a User or Group from a Folder

Folder Access/Permission Change Notification

Folder Access Levels

Sub-folder Access

Sharing from a Mobile Device

Folder Sharing with Storage Sync

Add A Domain User or Group to Access a Folder

After creating a new folder, a user can share the folder using the Permissions menu option at the top.

1. Navigate to the folder -> Select Permissions from the list of top menu options
   
   

   Only Admins and folder owners can grant access to shared folders.

   
   The Folder Permissions window shows all users that have access to the current folder. To share files with colleagues who already have an Egnyte user account, enter their username or group name in the search bar.
2. Enter username or group name in the search bar and select from the results
3. Click on the permissions dropdown and select the permission for the user or group. Click on Add
   
   

   - The default permission is set to Viewer when adding a new user.
   - A visual indicator will appear after adding the user or group.

   
   

Add a User to Existing Group

A user can be assigned to an existing group within permissions to a given folder.  This will eliminate any need to provide folder permissions specifically for the user and additional steps to add the same individual to the appropriate groups.  Here are the steps to add users from the pop-up:

1. Enter the username and select the user from the results in the dropdown.
2. The default permission while adding a new user is Viewer.
3. Change the permission if required. 
4. Click Add to existing group.
   
5. Select the group name and click Add.
   
6. A visual indicator appears after the addition of the user.
   
   

   The new user added will have permissions to all the folders that the group is associated with. Alternatively, a user can also be added to an existing group from the Groups page. Refer Manage Groups article for the details.

Invite New User(s)

1. Click on Invite new user(s) button at the bottom or while searching for a user to add.
   
2. Enter the user details such as Email address and Username (both are mandatory). Select the User type (default is Power User) and Permission Type (default is Viewer). Click here to learn more about the different user types. 
3. Click on Add more to invite multiple users in bulk 
4. Click Invite new users.
   
5. The new user will be added to the list with the visual indicator as added.
        

Owner Permission - Access Blocked for Subfolders

Even if a user has owner permission on a folder and permission inheritance is enabled for all its subfolders, it is possible that the permission assignment can be blocked for some individual subfolders. For example, consider the scenario below - 

• A user, Jane, is the owner of the folder /Shared/finance 
• /Shared/finance has two subfolders - /Shared/finance/invoices and /Shared/finance/reports
• Jane is the owner of /Shared/finance/invoices but is not the owner of /Shared/finance/reports.
• Permission inheritance is enabled for the entire folder subtree.
• Another user, John, has no permissions on any folders in that folder subtree.
• Jane assigns ‘Editor’ permissions to John on folder /Shared/finance 
• One would expect permissions inheritance to cascade the permissions so that John gets Editor permission on /Shared/finance/Invoices and /Shared/finance/reports 
• However, note that Jane is not the owner of /Shared/finance/reports and hence, should not be able to grant any permissions on this folder.
• Therefore, John would only get the permissions for /Shared/finance and /Shared/finance/invoices folders. Permissions for /Shared/finance/reports will remain unchanged.

One can imagine even more complex scenarios with deep folder trees, where a user is the owner of a top-level folder and also owns some of the bottom-level folders, but not the folders in the middle of the tree. The permissions would actually change only till the topmost subfolders where the grantor loses owner permission. The permissions for all other subfolders shall remain unchanged.

Remove a User or Group from a Folder

As users' duties and responsibilities change, it may be necessary to remove the permission they no longer need.

To remove a user or group from a folder:

1. Navigate into the folder where the permission needs to be removed.
2. Select Permissions from the list of top menu options.
   
3. Locate the user or group that needs to be removed and click the delete icon next to its name.
   
4. Click on Remove in the confirmation pop-up.
   

 

Folder Access or Permission Change Notification

Whenever access to a folder is either granted, altered, or revoked for a specific user by the admin or the folder owner, a permission change email notification is sent to the user whose permission has been updated. This notification will let the users know the specific changes affecting them.

The email notification appears as follows.

Case 1: Permission is Granted

Case 2: Permission is Altered

Case 3: Permission is Revoked

Folder Access Levels

When fellow employees and outside business partners collaborate on a project, the user may want collaborators to have different levels of control over the files contained in the folder. This may be needed to protect against file deletions and other unauthorized modifications. Egnyte provides the ability to assign five different access levels to project folders: Viewer-only, Viewer, Editor, Full, and Owner.

The following chart lays out each level's permissions.

	Viewer -Only (Limited Availability)	Viewer	Editor	Full	Owner*
Download/Read Files, Folders	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Copy Files, Folders	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Upload/Edit Files, Folders	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Create Sub-folder	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Rename Files, Folders	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Move Files, Folders	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Delete Files, Folders, or Versions	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Edit Folder Sharing	No	No	No	No	Yes
Create Upload Links	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Set Permissions	No	No	No	No	Yes

*The owner permission is called "permit" in the Classic UI.

Sub-Folder Access

When a user shares a folder with fellow employees or business partners, they automatically receive access to all the folder's sub-folders. However, you can modify sub-folder level access by managing permissions at the sub-folder level. You can also configure a folder so that it doesn't inherit permissions from its parent.

Learn more about disabling permissions inheritance for a folder.

Learn more about "None" permission in the "Folder Permissions Report."

Sharing from a Mobile Device

Egnyte offers the ability to manage permissions from Android, iPhone, and iPad using Egnyte's mobile apps.

Here are the steps to manage permissions.

1. Long tap a folder or tap the 3 dots next to the folder to see the options panel at the bottom of the screen.
2. Tap Permission and select Add User or Add Group on the next screen.
   
3. Choose who to share the folder with by searching for an existing user or group and tapping their record when it appears. To add a new user:
   • Tap the + icon to select someone from the contacts or type in their name, and tap Invite new user.
     
   • Enter their information, specify whether to make them an Administrator, Employee (Power User), or Non-employee (Standard User), and select their permission level (Owner, Full, Editor, or Viewer).
   • Once the information is entered, tap Invite, and they will receive an email with login instructions.
     

Folder Sharing with Storage Sync

Egnyte allows centrally managing all folder access from the WebUI, so anyone with access to folders in Egnyte WebUI will be able to access those same folders on Storage Sync. When a user make changes to folder access in the Egnyte account, the modifications are automatically applied to the local folder structure on Storage Sync.