Grant and remove access to Confluence spaces

15 min
Intermediate

By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to:

  • Configure space permissions
  • Add and remove users and groups to a Confluence space
  • Restrict pages in spaces
  • Enable anonymous access to a Confluence space

How to configure space permissions to manage users and groups?

Granting permissions in Confluence is a straightforward process that ensures everyone has appropriate access to your space's content.
To change permissions, navigate to the Space settings from the space pop-out by selecting the three dots next to the space name. The permissions settings are located under Space access in the sidebar. Here, you'll find several pages for configuring the permissions for users, groups, or guests.
  1. Select whatever you want to modify the permissions for, such as Users. Select the Edit button. Permissions are divided into columns for specific features that users can access, such as “Pages, whiteboards, databases, and Smart Links,” “Blogs,” “Comments,” or “Attachments.”
  2. Each column contains a series of checkboxes to enable or disable specific permissions for features such as viewing, adding, or deleting pages or blogs and adding or deleting comments and attachments. Simply check or uncheck the boxes to grant or revoke specific permissions.
  3. Once you've made your selections, select Save to apply the new permissions. This intuitive process allows you to easily manage access and ensure that users have the appropriate level of control within your Confluence space.
👇Here are the space permissions in Confluence.
a screenshot of the space permissions page in Confluence
👇Watch this video to learn to configure space permissions.

Set page-level access to restrict access to specific pages in your space

In addition to managing permissions for your whole space, you can also restrict access to individual pages within that space for viewing and editing.
👉 For example: You might want to keep a page private between you and a co-worker as you work on it but open access when it’s ready for others to view or edit. On the page itself, you can add restrictions for individuals or for Confluence groups.
There are three ways you can set up restrictions:
  • Anyone can view and edit the page
  • Anyone can view, but only some users can edit the page
  • Only specific users can view or edit the page

"Anyone can view this page" means all the people who have permission to view pages in a space.

Page restrictions work differently from space permissions

Page restrictions work a little differently from global and space permissions. Pages are open to viewing or editing by default, but you can restrict either viewing or editing to certain users or groups if necessary. Page restrictions can be applied to published or draft pages and blog posts.
Confluence will automatically add you to the list when you apply a restriction. You can't remove yourself from this list.
Users can set restrictions on a page-by-page basis, which is different from setting space permissions where admins define what people can see and do inside a whole Confluence space.
👇Watch this video to learn to set page restrictions.

Spot page restrictions

The restrictions icon is the one that looks like a lock at the top of a page. It tells you what restrictions the page has. Selecting the icon opens the restrictions dialog and provides more details.
👇Page restrictions are found at the top right of the page.
A screenshot of a confluence page with the lock icon highlighted at the top of the page
👇Click the boxes to learn about what the lock icons represent.

View all restricted pages in a space

Space admins can view all of the pages that have restrictions in a space from space settings. This makes it easier to troubleshoot permissions for multiple pages in a space.
To view all restricted pages in a space:
  1. From the sidebar, select More actions (represented by •••), then Space settings.
  2. Expand Content from the sidebar, and then select Restricted.
👇See all restricted pages in a space in space settings.
The restricted page of Space settings in Confluence. There are two pages visible from the marketing space that have various view and edit restrictions.

How space permissions and page restrictions interact

There are two things that can affect who can view a page: the space permissions and view restrictions on any parent pages that are being inherited. Keep in mind:
  1. Every page in Confluence lives within a space, and space permissions allow the space admin to revoke permission to view content for the whole space.
  2. Restrictions don't override a person's space permission.
  3. If you specify a person 'can view' in the restrictions dialog and they don't have 'view' permissions for the space, they won't be able to see the page.

Page restrictions can be inherited

👇Click the boxes to learn about inheritance for pages with view and edit restrictions.
Lets explore an example.
In the image below, in the Before image, the Home page, H, has no restrictions. Page A has view and edit restrictions. Its child pages, B and C, have inherited view restrictions. Pages D and E are both unrestricted with no view or edit permissions.
👇Click the numbered icons to see how permissions change when you move a page.
1
2
3
4
5
6
a conceptual graphic showing page restrictions changing after being reordered in hierarchy

Be careful when moving pages that have restrictions. You may inadvertently change the current restrictions on the new child pages, making them restricted when they were not before.

Make a space public with anonymous access

Anonymous access allows users who are not logged into Confluence to view content. This can be useful for sharing information like in an open knowledge base or support documentation. However, it is essential to carefully consider the security implications and ensure that only non-sensitive information is made available.
Anonymous access to content can be controlled at different levels:
  1. Site: At the site level (in global permissions), the Confluence admin or site admin decides whether to grant anonymous users any access to the site.
  2. Space: If anonymous access is allowed at the site level, it’s up to the space admins to decide whether to grant anonymous users access to their space. If space access is granted, anonymous users will have access to all pages in the space unless restricted to the pages themselves.
  3. Page: Anonymous users are restricted from viewing a page when its access setting is “Only specific people can view or edit” or when one of its parent pages has been set so that only specific people can access it. This means that the view restriction inherits down to all of its nested pages.
Spaces have their own level of control for anonymous users, which is independent of whatever access is granted at the site level. Unlike logged-in users, who get access to everything unless manually restricted, anonymous users start with no access and must be manually given access.
Although space permissions can be granted to anonymous users at any time, anonymous access must be enabled at the site level for anonymous users to successfully access the space.
👇Here you see the site’s Anonymous access permissions.
a screenshot of the anonymous access page under the space access settings
To give anonymous users space access:
  1. Go to the space you want to make public.
  2. Select Space settings from the space pop-out menu.
  3. Expand Space access and select Anonymous access.
  4. Select Edit.
  5. Check boxes under any of the available space permissions you want to give anonymous users. It’s recommended to only allow them the View permission. This will make space view-only for anonymous users.
  6. Select Save.
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Explore Confluence permissions

  • Confluence permissions overview
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  • Licensed user permissions
  • Inspect permissions
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