Permission & Access Issues

How to Grant Parent Folder Access Without Permission Inheritance in SharePoint and OneDrive

Adam Davis Oct 1, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user wants to grant access to a parent folder in OneDrive or SharePoint without the child folders or future files inheriting those permissions.

How to Grant Parent Folder Access Without Permission Inheritance

Product: OneDrive and SharePoint
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Managing folder permissions in cloud storage where specific users need parent folder access but restricted access to child items.
Observed behavior: OneDrive and SharePoint automatically inherit permissions from the parent folder to all child folders and files by default, with no standard setting to prevent this top-down inheritance.

Before you start

Before making permission changes, ensure you have Full Control or Site Owner rights to manage advanced permissions on the affected SharePoint or OneDrive folders.

Solution 1Recommended

Stop Inheritance on Individual Child Folders

Since you cannot prevent inheritance from the parent folder natively, you must manually stop inheritance on each child folder or item.

SharePoint and OneDrive do not offer a built-in feature to grant access strictly at the parent level without extending it to children. The only direct workaround is to break the permission link on the child items themselves.

Navigate to the Child Folder

Open your SharePoint document library or OneDrive and locate the specific child folder that needs restricted access.

Access Manage Access Options

Click the three dots (ellipsis) next to the folder name and select 'Manage Access' from the context menu.

Open Advanced Settings

In the Manage Access panel, scroll down or click the three dots at the top right, then select 'Advanced settings' to open the classic permissions page.

Stop Inheriting Permissions

Click the 'Stop Inheriting Permissions' button in the ribbon menu at the top. Confirm the action when prompted.

Adjust Unique Permissions

Select the users or groups who should not have access to this folder and click 'Remove User Permissions' in the ribbon.

Stop Inheritance on Individual Child Folders

Scalability Note: This method can be time-consuming for large folder structures. Furthermore, any new items created in the parent folder will still inherit permissions by default.

Solution 2

Redesign Folder Architecture or Use Separate Libraries

For complex folder structures, it is more efficient to restructure your data to avoid complicated item-level permissions.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I stop permission inheritance at the parent folder level?

No, SharePoint and OneDrive do not have a built-in feature to grant access to a parent folder without automatically passing those permissions down to its child items. You must break inheritance at the child level instead.

What happens when I click Stop Inheriting Permissions on a folder?

When you stop inheriting permissions, the child folder creates a standalone copy of the parent's permissions at that exact moment. You can then add or remove users from that child folder without it affecting the parent folder's access.

Will new files added to the parent folder automatically inherit permissions?

Yes, any new file or folder created inside the parent folder will automatically inherit the parent's permissions by default. If the new item requires restricted access, you must manually stop its inheritance after creating it.

Document & File Issues