View Effective Permissions on Files and Folders
Applies To: Windows Server 2008
When a file or folder is created, Windows assigns default permissions to that object or the creator can assign specific permissions.
Read is the minimum permission required to view effective permissions. Review the details in "Additional considerations" in this topic.
To view effective permissions on files and folders
Open Windows Explorer, and then locate the file or folder for which you would like to view effective permissions.
Right-click the file or folder, click Properties, and then click the Security tab.
Click Advanced, click the Effective Permissions tab, and then click Select.
In Enter the object name to select (examples), enter the name of a user or group, and then click OK. The selected check boxes indicate the effective permissions of the user or group for that file or folder.
Additional considerations
To open Windows Explorer, click Start, point to All programs, point to Accessories, and then click Windows Explorer.
If the specified object grants access to the Everyone group, the Authenticated Users group, or the Local Users group, the effective rights always includes those permissions, except when the specified user or group is the Anonymous group. This version of Windows does not include the Anonymous users in the Everyone group.
The Effective Permissions tab shows information that is calculated from the existing permissions entries. Therefore, the information displayed on that page is read-only and does not support changing a user's permissions by selecting or clearing permission check boxes.
Permissions are set only on drives formatted to use NTFS when using the access control user interface.
Share permissions are not part of the effective permissions calculation. Access to shared folders can be denied through share permissions even when access is allowed through NTFS permissions.
Additional references