Permission & Access Issues

How to Hide a SharePoint Folder from a Specific Site Member

Maira Mehtab Sep 22, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user wants to restrict a specific member's access to a particular SharePoint folder without affecting other site members.

Product: Microsoft SharePoint
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Managing folder-level access control within a shared SharePoint site.
Observed behavior: The specific user currently has access to the folder because it inherits permissions automatically from the parent SharePoint site.

Before you start

Ensure you have Site Owner or Full Control permissions for the SharePoint site, as you will need elevated privileges to break permission inheritance and modify access rights.

Solution 1Recommended

Stop Inheritance and Remove User Permissions

To hide a folder from an individual member, you must first break the folder's permission link to the main site, then manually remove that member's access.

By default, all folders and files in a SharePoint document library inherit the permissions of the parent site. Hiding a folder requires creating unique permissions for it.

Open Manage Access

Navigate to your SharePoint document library. Hover over the folder you want to hide, click the three-dot (ellipsis) menu icon, and select 'Manage access'.

Access Advanced Settings

Scroll to the bottom of the Manage access panel on the right side of your screen and click on 'Advanced' to open the detailed permissions page.

Stop Inheriting Permissions

In the ribbon at the top of the Advanced permissions page, click 'Stop Inheriting Permissions' and confirm the prompt. This severs the link between the folder and the site's default security rules.

Remove the Specific User

Select the checkbox next to the specific user (or the group containing them). Click 'Remove User Permissions' in the top ribbon to revoke their access. If they are part of a larger default group, you may need to remove the group and re-add the remaining members individually or create a custom group.

Check Existing Links: If the user can still open the folder after removing their permissions, review the 'Links giving access' tab in the Manage access panel and delete any direct sharing links they might have used.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why can the user still see the SharePoint folder after I removed their permissions?

The user might still have access through a previously generated direct sharing link, a cached browser session, or because they belong to another group (such as Site Owners) that still retains access to the folder.

Does stopping inheritance affect the subfolders inside the SharePoint folder?

Yes. Once you stop inheriting permissions on a parent folder, all the files and subfolders within it will automatically adopt the new custom permissions you set, unless you modify them individually.

How do I revert the folder back to its original site permissions?

To restore the default site access, go back to the folder's Advanced permissions settings and click 'Delete unique permissions' in the top ribbon. This will re-enable permission inheritance from the parent site.

Document & File Issues