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Allow users to Contribute without download & Read-Only without download

john john Pter 400 Reputation points
13 Jan 2025, 1:14 pm

We have a modern SharePoint Online site collection, of type communication site. And we need to have 2 custom permission levels:-

  1. Read-Only without download
  2. Contribute without download

So i follow those steps:-

  1. I copied the Built-in Contribute permission level, then i uncheck those 2 check-boxes:-

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  1. I copied the Built-in Read permission level, then i uncheck those 2 check-boxes:-

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Then i created 3 folders, as follow:-

  1. Contribute folder >> Assign it the built-in Contribute permission level
  2. Contribute without Download >> Assign it the custom permission level Contribute without download
  3. Read without Download >> Assign it the custom permission level Read without download

I have noted that this work as per my test.

For the first folder "Contribute", the user can edit the files using the browser, open them inside app and download them, as follow:-

enter image description here

For the second folder "Contribute without download", the user can edit the files using the browser ONLY, can NOT open them inside app and can NOT download them, as follow:-

enter image description here

For the third folder "Read without download", same as "Contribute without download" but users can view the file on the browser and can not edit them...

so my question, if i am doing things correctly? to have a custom permission level to allow users to contribute to files using the browser-only without the ability to download? and to allow users to view files using the browser-only without the ability to download?

Thanks in advance for any help and suggestions. and if there is a more robust approach?

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  1. Ling Zhou_MSFT 20,395 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor
    14 Jan 2025, 2:49 am

    Hi @john john Pter,

    Thanks for reaching out to us. We are very pleased to assist you.

    You disable file downloads by disabling the Open items permission which is a good way to do it.

    The Open Items permission in SharePoint allows users to view the source of documents using server-side file handlers. This means that users can access the underlying content of documents, such as viewing the HTML source of a web page or the XML content of a document, without downloading the file itself.

    We can read the content of the document normally, but with the following effects:

    Restricted access to document content: Users are unable to view the internal structure or metadata of the document.

    Limited Troubleshooting: This may prevent users who need to examine the content of a document for troubleshooting or validation purposes.

    Enhanced Security: This enhances security by preventing users from accessing sensitive information embedded in documents.

    If your documents do not contain any of the above affected sections, then you can use your own custom permission levels.

    Also, for your "Read without download" permission level, SharePoint has a built-in Restricted Read permission level, which is based on Read to remove the download permission, you can also use this permission.

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    If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.


    If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. It will be beneficial to more community members reading here. Your contribution will be highly appreciated.

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