Assigning Space Permissions

If you’re a space admin for a space, you can assign or revoke a number of permissions for that space, such as who can see content in the space, and what they can do with it. Space permissions can be assigned or revoked for both individual users and groups.

Whatever you choose to assign or revoke is applied broadly to all content in the space. Finer controls can be applied at the Page Level.

You are the space admin for your own personal space, by default.

Tip: Manage space space permissions using groups instead of individual people

Confluence groups let you manage space permissions quickly and at scale.

For example, let's say you want to change space permissions for 10 people. If they were all added individually, then you have to make 10 changes, the same change for each individual. But if those 10 people were added as a single Confluence group, then you only have to make one change.

That said, if you're not also a site admin, then you won't have direct control over the makeup of the groups and will have to rely on a site admin to create and edit groups. If that's a bit of an unwieldy or unreliable process, then it might not make sense to use groups. But, in general, using groups should make your life as a space admin a lot easier.

Access space settings from the sidebar on the left.

Grant or revoke space permissions:

Go to the space in Confluence Cloud.
Select Space Settings from the sidebar.
Select General from the Space permissions card.
1. The Space permissions card is only visible if you're a space admin in that space.
Select an Edit Permissions button (under Groups, Individual Users, or Anonymous Access).
Find the row in the list for the user or group you want to grant or revoke a permission for.
Check the box to grant a permission. Uncheck the box to revoke a permission.
Scroll to the end of the page and click Save all to apply all the changes you've made.

Additive permissions

Keep in mind, permissions in Confluence are additive.

If someone is a member of multiple groups in your space (A, B, C, etc.), what they're able to see and do is the sum of the permissions granted to Group A + Group B + Group C, and so on, plus whether they're listed in the Individual Users section.

Which is to say, to truly revoke a permission for someone, it needs to be revoked for them everywhere in the space.

For example, consider the following:

Group A (can view in space)
User A (cannot view in space)

If User A is a member of Group A, then they still have permission to view because the sum of permissions between User A + Group A = "can view".

To prevent User A from viewing content in your space, you'd have to either revoke permission to view in your space from Group A, too, or ask your site admin to remove User A from Group A.

There's no way to change permissions for multiple spaces at once. However, if you’re a Confluence admin or a site admin, you can set default space permissions, which will apply to all new spaces.

Add people to your space

First, open editing for space permissions:

Go to the space in Confluence Cloud.
Select Space Settings from the sidebar.
Select General from the Space permissions card.
1. The Space permissions card is only visible if you're a space admin in that space.
Select an Edit Permissions button (under Groups, Individual Users, or Anonymous Access).

To add a new individual user to your space:

Go to the Individual Users section and search for the person you want to add. (Users are added one at a time.)
When you've found them, select Add.
1. After the page reloads, you should see the user added in the list of other users.
Repeat until you've added all the individual users you want to add.
When you're ready, scroll to the bottom of the page and select Save all to apply all the changes you've made.

To add a new group to your space:

Go to the Groups section and search for the group you want to add. (Groups are added one at a time.)
When you've found it, select Add.
1. After the page reloads, you should see the group added in the list of other groups.
Repeat until you've added all the groups you want to add.
When you're ready, scroll to the bottom of the page and select Save all to apply all the changes you've made.

To remove a user or group from your space:

Find the row in the list for the user or group you want to remove.
Make sure no boxes are checked for that user or group. (Tip: Instead of going one by one, you can bulk select all permissions by clicking Select All for the user or group, then click Deselect All.)
Select Save all to apply all changes. This will prompt the system to remove all entries that have no boxes checked.

Override all permissions on a space

A quick way to make a global change to space permissions is to override all of its permissions. You have two ways to override all permissions:

Default permissions: Choosing this will reset space permissions to the default set for all spaces, dictated by your Confluence admin.
Copy permissions from another space: (Only available on the Premium plan) Copy the space permissions setup from another space. You can only copy permissions from spaces in which you're a space admin.

You can't undo an override action.

Copy permissions from another space

If you’re the space admin of another space, you can reuse that space’s permissions in an existing space. This helps quickly change your space permissions.

Go to the space in Confluence Cloud that you want to change permissions for (not the space you want to copy permissions from).
Select Space Settings from the sidebar.
Select General from the Space permissions card.
1. The Space permissions card is only visible if you're a space admin in that space.
Open the Override all permissions drop-down menu and select Copy permissions from another space.
In the Choose a space field, type and select the name of the space whose permissions you want to copy.
Select Apply.
Select Copy permissions to confirm you want to override the permissions with those of the selected space.

Assigning permissions for anonymous access

Anonymous access, for all intents and purposes, means public access. It's a feature that is disabled by default, and must first be turned on for the whole site by a Confluence admin or a site admin.

Once anonymous access is enabled, you'll be able to change the permissions for anonymous users.

Recover space permissions

Confluence and site admins are always able to access permissions for any spaces on their site. If a space is ever without a space admin — for example, if the only space admin for a space left the organization — a Confluence or site admin can always recover control over space permissions by becoming a space admin. This can be done temporarily, long enough to assign another person as admin of the space.

To recover space permissions:

Select the gear icon in the top nav (top right) to go to product settings.
Select Space Permissions.
Locate the space in the Individual Spaces list and select Recover Permissions. (If you're already an admin in the space, you'll see Manage Permissions.)

Selecting Recover Permissions will be recorded in the Confluence audit log.

What the individual space permissions do

ALL
View	Controls who can view content in your space If the view permission is granted to the user or group, they can view all content in your space (except when they're restricted from doing so on individual pages). If the view permission is revoked for the user or group, they won't be able to view any content in the space. They won't be able to find the space or any of its content, neither in search results nor by browsing spaces on the site.
Delete Own	Controls who can delete their own content in your space If the delete own permission is granted to the user or group, they can delete content they created, or content they currently own. This includes, pages, blogs, and attachments. They won't be able to delete content created by anyone else, that they do not currently own. To allow them to delete any content created by someone else, make sure they're granted the Delete permission under Pages. If the delete own permission is revoked for the user or group and no other content Delete permissions are granted, then they won't be able to delete any content they create or own in the space. Note: Revoking the Delete Own permission does not affect users' ability to delete their own comments.
PAGES
Add	Controls who can create and edit pages in your space If the add pages permission is granted to the user or group, they can create pages in your space. They can also edit any pages in your space, except when restricted from doing so on individual pages. If the add pages permission is revoked for the user or group, they can neither create nor edit any pages in your space.
Archive	Controls who can archive pages in your space If the archive pages permission is granted to the user or group, they can archive any page in your space. They can also restore any pages to the page tree from the archived pages list. They can't archive or restore any pages that they don't have permission to view. Everyone with access to your space can inherently archive any content they themselves created. If the archive pages permission is revoked for the user or group, they will only be able to archive content they themselves created.
Delete	Controls who can delete pages in your space If the delete pages permission is granted to the user or group, they can delete any given page in your space. They can't delete any pages that they don't have permission to view. If the delete pages permission is revoked for the user or group, they can't delete any given page in your space. If the Delete Own permission is assigned, then they can only delete pages they themselves created. If the delete own permission also isn't granted, then they can't delete any pages in your space, period.
BLOG
Add	Controls who can create blogs in your space If the add blog permission is granted to the user or group, they can create blogs in your space. They can also edit any blogs in your space, unless restricted from doing so on individual blogs. If the add blog permission is revoked for the user or group, they can neither create nor edit blogs in your space.
Delete	Controls who can delete blogs in your space If the delete blog permission is granted to the user or group, they can delete any given blog in your space. They can't delete any blog that they don't have permission to view. If the delete blog permission is revoked for the user or group, they can't delete any given blog in your space. If the Delete Own permission is granted, then they can only delete blogs they themselves created, or that they currently own. If the delete own permission isn't granted, though, then they can't delete any blogs in your space, period.
COMMENTS
Add	Controls who can leave comments in your space If the add comment permission is granted to the user or group, they can leave comments (both page and inline) on any pages (and blogs) in your space that they have permission to view. This also means they can delete their own comments. Only the author of a comment can edit it. If the add comment permission is revoked for the user or group, they can't leave comments anywhere in your space.
Delete	Controls who can delete comments in your space If the delete comment permission is granted to the user or group, they can delete any given comment in your space, not just their own. They can't delete comments on any page or blog that they don't have permission to view. If the delete blog permission is revoked for the user or group, they can't delete any given comment left by anyone in your space.
ATTACHMENTS
Add	Controls who can upload attachments to pages in your space If the add attachment permission is granted to the user or group, they can upload attachments anywhere in your space. Attachments can only be added in edit mode, so they must have permission to edit the page before they can upload anything to it. This means to successfully upload attachments to a page, they must first have the Add Pages permission in the space and not be restricted from editing on the page itself. If the add attachment permission is revoked for the user or group, they can't upload attachments anywhere in your space.
Delete	Controls who can delete attachments in your space If the delete attachment permission is granted to the user or group, they can delete any given attachment in your space, not just their own. They can't delete attachments on pages that they don't have permission to view. If the delete attachment permission is revoked for the user or group, they can't delete any given attachment in your space. If the Delete Own permission is granted, then they can only delete attachments they themselves created. If the delete own permission isn't granted, though, then they can't delete any attachments in your space, period.
RESTRICTIONS
Add/Delete	Controls who can edit restrictions on individual pages in your space If the add/delete restrictions permission is granted to the user or group, they can edit the restrictions dialog on any given page (or blog) in your space, not just their own. They can't edit restrictions on pages that they don't have permission to view. Space admins always have this permission, regardless if it is granted or revoked. It's included in the Space Admin permission. If the add/delete restrictions permission is revoked for the user or group, they can't edit restrictions on any given page in your space. If the Add permission under Pages is granted, then they can still edit the restrictions on any page they themselves created.
MAIL
Delete
SPACE
Export	Controls who can export your space If the export space permission is granted to the user or group, they can export the whole space, including each comment and attachment. This includes pages they don't have permission to view. Blogs are not included in space export. If the export space permission is revoked for the user or group, they can't export the whole space. Page-level export is governed by the "View" permission. Anyone who can view a page can also export it.
Admin	Controls who the space admins are in your space If the space admin permission is granted to the user or group, they can view and make changes to certain elements of the space reserved for space admins. They can also grant or revoke space permissions for any user or group, including the space admin permission itself. Note: Space admins can add and delete restrictions on any page they have permission to view. They don’t need to have been granted the Restrictions space permission. If the space admin permission is revoked for the user or group, they can't grant or revoke space permissions for anyone.