Permission & Access Issues

How to Manage SharePoint Permissions for Root Folders and Subfolders

Khadija Khan Oct 23, 2026 868 views

Question details

The user needs to prevent team members from deleting a top-level folder in SharePoint Online while still granting them full edit and delete permissions for the subfolders inside it.

How to Manage SharePoint Permissions for Root Folders and Subfolders

Product: SharePoint Online
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Setting up folder structures and access controls for a team so that the main directory structure remains protected while daily collaborative work can continue inside.
Observed behavior: SharePoint enforces permission inheritance by default, making it impossible to separately restrict root folder deletion while simultaneously granting edit rights to its direct contents.

Before you start

Ensure you have Site Owner or Full Control permissions for the SharePoint document library, as you will need advanced access to break permission inheritance and assign custom rights.

Solution 1Recommended

Create a Second Layer of Folders with Unique Permissions

Since SharePoint cannot isolate root folder deletion rules from subfolder edit rights, restructuring your folders and breaking inheritance is the most effective workaround.

SharePoint permissions generally inherit from the parent folder. This means you cannot directly grant 'edit' rights for subfolders while applying 'read-only' or 'no-delete' rights to the root folder. To solve this, you must create an intermediate folder layer and apply custom access controls there.

Set up the top-level root folder

Create your main root folder in the SharePoint document library and set its sharing permissions to 'Read' or 'Restricted View' for your team.

Create the subfolder layer

Open the root folder and create a secondary layer of subfolders where the actual collaborative work will take place.

Access advanced permission settings

Select the newly created subfolder, click 'Manage Access' from the context menu or details pane, and choose 'Advanced' at the bottom.

Break permission inheritance

In the advanced settings ribbon, click 'Stop Inheriting Permissions' to disconnect this subfolder's security rules from the top-level folder.

Assign edit permissions

Click 'Grant Permissions' and give your users 'Edit' or 'Contribute' access to this specific subfolder so they can freely create and delete files inside it.

Create a Second Layer of Folders with Unique Permissions

Recycle Bin Access: You cannot manage permissions for the SharePoint Recycle Bin separately. If users have delete permissions for subfolders, they will inherently have access to the Recycle Bin. Hiding the Recycle Bin link does not revoke these underlying access rights.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I prevent users from accessing the SharePoint Recycle Bin?

No, the SharePoint Recycle Bin cannot be permissioned separately. Users who have the right to delete items will automatically have access to view and restore items from the Recycle Bin. Hiding the link from the site navigation does not change their actual permissions.

Why do SharePoint subfolders inherit permissions by default?

SharePoint uses permission inheritance to simplify access management. By default, any file or subfolder created within a library automatically receives the same access rights as its parent. This reduces the administrative overhead of manually setting permissions for every new file.

How do I check who has access to a specific SharePoint folder?

Select the folder, click the three-dot menu (More options), and select 'Manage Access'. Here, you can see a quick summary of who can view or edit the folder. For a detailed breakdown, click 'Advanced' to see the complete permission levels assigned to users and groups.

Document & File Issues