Space Permissions Overview

Each space in Confluence has its own set of permissions, which can be granted and revoked by a space administrator. The user that creates a space, like when you create your personal space, is automatically an administrator of that space, and they can add other space admins if they want to by adding the Space Admin permission to another user or group.

(info) How do you find out who the space admin is for a particular space? Choose Spaces > Space directory in the Confluence header, then choose the Space Details icon beside a space.

If you're one of those lucky space admins, you can assign permissions for the space to individual users, groups, or anonymous users. To change permissions for a space, choose Space tools > Permissions from the bottom of the sidebar, then choose Edit Permissions to change permission settings.

Space admins can also manage watchers for that space by choosing Watch > Manage Watchers at the top-right of any page in the space.

If you accidentally deny all admin access to a space so that nobody has access to administer the space any more, you can ask someone with Confluence Administrator global permission to recover Space Permissions.

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This page is about Space Permissions. Confluence also lets you set Page Restrictions.

Permissions Summary

The following permissions can be assigned for each space:

CategoryPermission
All

View gives you permission to access the content in this space, and see it in the space directory and other places like the dashboard. 

Delete own gives you permission to delete any pages, blogs, attachments and comments you've created in this space (regardless of whether other users have subsequently edited the content). 

Pages

Add page gives you permission to create new pages and edit existing pages in this space (assuming the page is not restricted for editing). 

Delete page gives you permission to delete any page in the space. 

Blog

Add blog gives you permission to create new blog posts and edit existing blog posts in this space (assuming the blog post is not restricted for editing). 

Delete page gives you permission to delete any blog post in the space. Delete permission is also required to move a page or blog to a different space. 

Attachments

Add attachment gives you permission to upload (attach) files to pages and blog posts in this space. 

Delete attachment gives you permission to remove attached files from pages or blog posts in the space. 

People with only Add page or blog permissions can still insert existing attached files in the editor, and remove files from the editor, so they're not displayed on the page or blog post. They can't however upload a new file, a new version of the file, or delete the attached file itself.  

Comments

Add comments gives you permission to add comments to a page, blog post or attached file.  

Delete comments gives you permission to delete any comment on a page, blog post or attached file. 

Restrictions

Add restrictions gives you permission to apply page-level restrictions to a page or blog post. You can restrict a page for viewing, or just for editing. 

Delete restrictions gives you permission to remove restrictions from any page or blog post. 

MailDelete mail gives you permission to delete mail items that have been archived in this space.  This is not a commonly used feature. 
Space

Export space gives you permission to export all the contents of the space to PDF, HTML or XML. This is different to single page exports - anyone who can view a page can also export it.

Admin gives you permission to access all space administration tools, including things like permissions, templates, look and feel, and the ability to delete the whole space. 

Here's how it looks on the Permissions screen:


(info) Confluence administrators aren't necessarily space administrators. In order for them to be a space admin, they must belong to a group which has space admin and view permission for the space, or their username must be specifically granted space admin and view permission for the space. People with the System Administrator global permission can choose to grant themselves space admin permissions for any space.

Space permissions are additive

Space permissions are additive. If a user is granted permissions as an individual or as a member of one or more groups, Confluence will combine these permissions together. 

Here's an example...

Sasha is a member of the confluence-users group and the developers group. The confluence-users group has 'export' permission, but does not have 'restrict' permission. The developers group has 'restrict' permission but does not have 'export' permission.

By being a member of these two groups, Sasha can restrict and export content. The permissions do not conflict, they combine to determine what Sasha is allowed to do in this space.

Last modified on Jan 13, 2020

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