Symptoms

User is not able to access Confluence, a space, or a page. Gets "Access Denied" error.

Possible Causes

• Global Permissions (only applicable if using JIRA Cloud) - Permission to log in to JIRA.
• Application Access (only applicable if using JIRA Cloud) - Access can be toggled on/off by a checkbox. In some cases a user might be inadvertently unchecked by an administrator. 
• Space Permissions - Every space has its own independent set of permissions. Space permissions can only be granted by a space administrator.
• Page Permissions - Page restrictions allow you to control who can view or edit individual pages in a space. To add or remove restrictions to a page you will need to have permissions to edit the page and 'Restrict' or 'Admin' permission in the space. 

  The 'Edit Space Permissions' page is divided into the following sections:

  • Groups – a list of groups which already have permissions to access the site.
  • Individual Users – a list of users who already have permissions to access the site.
  • Anonymous Access – the space permissions granted to all anonymous users of the site.

Resolution

• Global Permissions - If using JIRA, check that user has permission to login. 
• Application Access - If using JIRA, ensure the user has access to Confluence. 
• Assign space permissions - Permissions are broken up into seven categories. At a minimum, ensure the user(s) has access to All (View). 

• • All (View)
  • Pages (Add/Restrict/Delete)
  • Blog (Add/Delete)
  • Comments (Add/Delete)
  • Attachments (Add/Delete)
  • Mail (Delete)
  • Space (Export/Admin)

• Add or Remove Page Restrictions - Edit the page(s) in question and check 
• Space Permissions overview - General overview of how Confluence permissions are applied

Warning: If you deny all administrative access to a space by mistake, so that nobody has access to administer the space any more, you will need to ask someone in the confluence-administrators group to fix the permissions for you.