User permissions and permission levels

Article
07/25/2014

Applies To: Windows SharePoint Services 3.0

Topic Last Modified: 2006-10-17

In this article:

Default permission levels
User permissions

Default permission levels

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 includes five permission levels by default. You can customize the permissions available in these permission levels (except for the Limited Access and Full Control permission levels), or you can create new permission levels that contain specific permissions.

Note

Although you cannot directly edit the Limited Access and Full Control permission levels, you can make permissions unavailable for the entire Web application, which essentially removes those permissions from the Limited Access and Full Control permission levels. For more information, see "Manage permissions for a Web application" in the Central Administration Help system.

Permission level	Description	Permissions included by default
Limited Access	Allows access to shared resources in the Web site so users can access an item within the site. Designed to be combined with fine-grained permissions to give users access to a specific list, document library, item, or document, without giving users access to the entire site. Cannot be customized or deleted.	View Application Pages, Browse User Information, Use Remote Interfaces, Use Client Integration Features, Open
Read	Read-only access to the Web site.	Limited Access permissions plus: View Items, Open Items, View Versions, Create Alerts, Use Self-Service Site Creation, View Pages
Contribute	Can create and edit items in existing lists and document libraries.	Read permissions plus: Add Items, Edit Items, Delete Items, Delete Versions, Browse Directories, Edit Personal User Information, Manage Personal Views, Add/Remove Personal Web Parts, Update Personal Web Parts
Design	Can create lists and document libraries and edit pages in the Web site.	Contribute permissions plus: Manage Lists, Override Check Out, Approve Items, Add and Customize Pages, Apply Themes and Borders, Apply Style Sheets
Full Control	Full control of the scope.	All permissions

User permissions

Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 includes 32 permissions, which are used in the five default permission levels. You can change which permissions are included in a particular permission level (except for the Limited Access and Full Control permission levels), or you can create a new permission level to contain specific permissions.

List permissions

Permission	Description	Dependent permissions	Included in these permission levels by default
Manage Lists	Create and delete lists, add or remove columns in a list, and add or remove public views of a list.	View Items, View Pages, Open, Manage Personal Views	Design, Full Control
Override Check Out	Discard or check in a document that is checked out to another user without saving the current changes.	View Items, View Pages, Open	Design, Full Control
Add Items	Add items to lists, add documents to document libraries, and add Web discussion comments.	View Items, View Pages, Open	Contribute, Design, Full Control
Edit Items	Edit items in lists, edit documents in document libraries, edit Web discussion comments in documents, and customize Web Part Pages in document libraries.	View Items, View Pages, Open	Contribute, Design, Full Control
Delete Items	Delete items from a list, documents from a document library, and Web discussion comments in documents.	View Items, View Pages, Open	Contribute, Design, Full Control
View Items	View items in lists, documents in document libraries, and view Web discussion comments.	View Pages, Open	Read, Contribute, Design, Full Control
Approve Items	Approve minor versions of list items or documents.	Edit Items, View Items, View Pages, Open	Design, Full Control
Open Items	View the source of documents with server-side file handlers.	View Items, View Pages, Open	Read, Contribute, Design, Full Control
View Versions	View past versions of list items or documents.	View Items, Open Items, View Pages, Open	Read, Contribute, Design, Full Control
Delete Versions	Delete past versions of list items or documents.	View Items, View Versions, View Pages, Open	Contribute, Design, Full Control
Create Alerts	Create e-mail alerts.	View Items, View Pages, Open	Read, Contribute, Design, Full Control
View Application Pages	View forms, views, and application pages. Enumerate lists.	Open	All

Site permissions

Permission	Description	Dependent permissions	Included in these permission levels by default
Manage Permissions	Create and change permission levels on the Web site and assign permissions to users and groups.	View Items, Open Items, View Versions, Browse Directories, View Pages, Enumerate Permissions, Browse User Information, Open	Full Control
View Usage Data	View reports on Web site usage.	View Pages, Open	Full Control
Create Subsites	Create subsites such as team sites, Meeting Workspace sites, and Document Workspace sites.	View Pages, Browse User Information, Open	Full Control
Manage Web Site	Perform all administration tasks for the Web site, and manage content.	View Items, Add and Customize Pages, Browse Directories, View Pages, Enumerate Permissions, Browse User Information, Open	Full Control
Add and Customize Pages	Add, change, or delete HTML pages or Web Part pages, and edit the Web site by using a Windows SharePoint Services-compatible editor.	View Items, Browse Directories, View Pages, Open	Design, Full Control
Apply Themes and Borders	Apply a theme or borders to the entire Web site.	View Pages, Open	Design, Full Control
Apply Style Sheets	Apply a style sheet (.css file) to the Web site.	View Pages, Open	Design, Full Control
Create Groups	Create a group of users that can be used anywhere within the site collection.	View Pages, Browse User Information, Open	Full Control
Browse Directories	Enumerate files and folders in a Web site by using Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer and Web DAV interfaces.	View Pages, Open	Contribute, Design, Full Control
Use Self-Service Site Creation	Create a Web site by using Self-Service Site Creation.	View Pages, Browse User Information, Open	Read, Contribute, Design, Full Control
View Pages	View pages in a Web site.	Open	Read, Contribute, Design, Full Control
Enumerate Permissions	Enumerate permissions on the Web site, list, folder, document, or list item.	Browse Directories, View Pages, Browse User Information, Open	Full Control
Browse User Information	View information about users of the Web site.	Open	All
Manage Alerts	Manage alerts for all users of the Web site.	View Items, View Pages, Open	Full Control
Use Remote Interfaces	Use SOAP, Web DAV, or Office SharePoint Designer interfaces to access the Web site.	Open	All
Use Client Integration Features	Use features that launch client applications. Without this permission, users must work on documents locally and then upload their changes.	Use Remote Interfaces, Open	All
Open	Open a Web site, list, or folder to access items inside that container.	None	All
Edit Personal User Information	Users can change their own user information, such as adding a picture.	Browse User Information, Open	Contribute, Design, Full Control

Personal permissions

Permission	Description	Dependent permissions	Included in these permission levels by default
Manage Personal Views	Create, change, and delete personal views of lists.	View Items, View Pages, Open	Contribute, Design, Full Control
Add/Remove Personal Web Parts	Add or remove personal Web Parts on a Web Part page.	View Items, View Pages, Open	Contribute, Design, Full Control
Update Personal Web Parts	Update Web Parts to display personalized information.	View Items, View Pages. Open	Contribute, Design, Full Control