Permission & Access Issues

How to Check and Manage SharePoint Group Memberships

Muhammad Talha Oct 21, 2026 868 views

Question details

The user needs to understand the difference between similarly named SharePoint groups, verify group memberships, and configure advanced list permissions for specific user groups.

How to Check and Manage SharePoint Group Memberships

Product: SharePoint
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Managing user access, verifying group synchronization, and configuring custom permission inheritance for SharePoint lists and Power Apps.
Observed behavior: A custom SharePoint group and a similarly named default Members group appear as separate entities, causing confusion about membership synchronization and list access.

Before you start

Ensure you have Site Owner or Full Control permissions in your SharePoint environment to view advanced site permissions and manage group memberships.

Solution 1Recommended

Review and Differentiate SharePoint Permission Groups

Verify if the similarly named groups are separate entities by checking their distinct memberships and assigned permission levels in the site settings.

It is common to have a default site Members group and a custom group with a similar name. These are separate SharePoint permission groups with distinct settings.

You must inspect the site's advanced permission settings to confirm their exact roles and to ensure users are added to the correct group.

Navigate to Site Permissions

Open your SharePoint site, click the Gear icon (Settings) in the top right corner, and select 'Site permissions'.

Open Advanced Settings

At the bottom of the permissions pane, click on 'Advanced permissions settings' to view the full list of groups and individuals with access.

Review People and Groups

Click on 'People and Groups' in the left-hand navigation menu. Select each similarly named group to review its current members, owner, and associated permission levels.

Review and Differentiate SharePoint Permission Groups

Solution 2

Configure Advanced List Access with Security Groups

Use Microsoft 365 security groups and break permission inheritance to restrict list access and link it securely to Power Apps.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why is there a delay in SharePoint group membership updates?

SharePoint group memberships that rely on Microsoft 365 or Azure Active Directory security groups synchronize via backend timer jobs. This can occasionally cause a slight delay before new members appear or receive their access rights.

Can I restrict users to only view items they created in a SharePoint list?

Yes, for the entire list, you can go to List Settings > Advanced settings, and under 'Item-level Permissions', set 'Read access' to 'Read items that were created by the user'. However, applying this out-of-the-box rule exclusively to one specific user group while exempting another is not natively supported without custom security configurations or Power Apps logic.

What does breaking permission inheritance mean in SharePoint?

Breaking permission inheritance means a specific list, library, or item will no longer automatically share the exact same permissions as the broader parent site. This allows administrators to set unique, granular access restrictions for sensitive data.

Document & File Issues