Discover how to prevent users from editing your SharePoint files. This guide will provide clear instructions on how to set read-only access, protecting your important data.
Organizations can work together on documents using SharePoint, which is a strong platform for collaboration. To prevent any accidental editing or unauthorized modifications, some documents may need to be kept private at certain times. This situation could come up due to some reasons such as:
There are several ways to set a file to read-only in SharePoint. The method you choose will depend on your organization’s security policies and the level of control you want.
A useful tool for controlling access to files and folders in SharePoint is the Permissions feature. Access settings for a specific file can be changed to restrict who can view, edit, or delete that file.
You can use permissions in SharePoint to set a file to read-only.
1. Navigate to the library where the file is located.
2. Click on the file name to open its properties.
3. Go to the "Permissions" tab.
4. Click on the "Break Inheritance" button to remove the permissions inherited from the parent folder.
5. Click on the "Grant Permission" button.
6. Add the users or groups that should have read-only access to the file.
7. Assign the "Read" permission level to these users or groups.
8. Click "OK" to save the changes.
This procedure helps you to specify what type of people or entities might want to edit/view this file clearly. You have the ability to change the privilege settings for every individual or group based on their work functions as well as offering different levels of access rights to them.
Controlling who can modify a file is possible with the Check-out and Check-in features in SharePoint. A checked-out file can only be modified by the original user, and other users can only view the file.
You can use the Check-out and Check-in features to make a file read-only:
1. To find a file, go to the library.
2. Click on the file name to view the file properties.
3. Select "Version History" from the menu.
4. Select "Check-out" from the menu.
5. The file is locked after it is checked out to prevent other users from modifying it.
Although this method is easy to use, the user must manually check the input and output files. This can be more difficult when there are many files or when multiple people are accessing the same file.
Information Management Policies (IMPs) in SharePoint can be used to set particular files as read-only automatically. An IMP can be created to lock a file automatically after a specific time period or when certain conditions are met.
To use IMPs to make a file read-only:
1. Go to the "Site Settings" page of your SharePoint site.
2. You will need to click on "Data Management Policies."
3. Create a new IMP and specify the conditions under which a file should be read-only.
4. Open IMPs.
IMPs are a powerful tool for automating the process of making files read-only, but setting them up requires some technical knowledge.
This article addresses the question “How to make a file read-only in SharePoint”. If you’re considering migrating files from your current cloud service to SharePoint, or vice versa, MultCloud can be extremely useful. Trusted by over 3 million users, MultCloud is a multi-cloud management tool that facilitates the transfer or synchronization of files between various cloud services.
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