How can I set permissions on documents in SharePoint?

Permissions to documents in SharePoint/MetaShare are primarily set on a workspace level. If you have access to a workspace, you normally have access to all documents within the workspace. Permissions to certain documents within a workspace could however be restricted or extended.

Extend access to certain documents

Permissions to specific documents can be extended by:

1. Sharing them to individuals that are either within our outside your organization using the “Share” function:
   
2. Extending the permissions on folder-level (if the workspace has folders). If permissions are set on a folder, then all documents that reside in the folder will inherit the permissions from the folder.

Note that users that only are granted access to certain documents/folders within a workspace, do not see the document’s workspace in the workspaces tab in MetaShare’s start page, they will however be able to open the workspace if they have the link to it. For these users to also be able to see the workspace in the workspaces tab, you need to add permissions to the workspace’s start page.

Restrict access to certain documents

Permissions to specific documents can be restricted by:

1. Restricting access to draft items so that visitors, with read permissions, will just be able to see the latest published versions of documents.
2. Restricting the permissions on folder-level (if the workspace has folders). If permissions are set on a folder, then all documents that reside in the folder will inherit the permissions from the folder.
3. Applying sensitivity labels from Microsoft Purview Information Protection to documents. Sensitivity labels are defined in Microsoft 365 compliance Center where specific security rules can be set on certain sensitivity labels, e.g.:
   1. restrict permissions to certain users
   2. restrict the possibility to copy content inside these documents
   3. restrict the possibility to download these documents
   4. restrict the possibility to print them

      These restrictions will be applied to the documents, regardless of where they are stored (in SharePoint, as an attachment in an e-mail or downloaded to a disk).
      Sensitivity labels are added to Office documents through an add-on to Office and users select a label by clicking on one of the label buttons on top of a document:
      
      You can read more about sensitivity labels and their capabilities in Microsoft’s Overview of sensitivity labels and introduction to information protection.