When you share a sheet with someone, you can specify the sharing permission level with Viewer, Editor, or Admin level access to it. The permission level determines the features available to a collaborator for the item you're sharing (a sheet, report, or workspace for example).
In this article:
If you are looking for information about sharing permission levels for sharing a dashboard, please see Sharing a Smartsheet Dashboard.
The sharing permission level on a sheet isn't related to your account user type. For example, it's possible to be a System Admin on a multi-user account with only Viewer access to a particular sheet; or, you could be a free collaborator with Admin access to a sheet.
To learn more about the difference between permissions and account user types, see the visual guide Infographic: User Types and Sharing Permissions Explained or review our help article on User Types.
Sharing Permission Levels on Sheets
Viewer
- View all the sheet data, including comments
- Export the sheet
- Use the Save as New command to save the sheet as a new sheet
- Send the sheet, or rows through email to themselves or others
- Download attachments
- Set own reminders and notifications
- Sort rows and freeze columns for their own purposes, but can’t save these changes
- Filter data in sheets with the "Unnamed Filter"
- Apply saved filters (not available in single-user plan types)
- No editing or sharing power
Editor
All functions available to Viewers, and the following:
- Edit unlocked rows and columns
- Insert rows
- Delete unlocked rows
- Add new attachments and comments
- Sort unlocked rows and freeze columns
- Filter data in sheets, name filters to save them
- Send Update Requests
- Share with others if allowed
- Move rows within the sheet or to another sheet
NOTE: If you move or copy rows to another sheet, the destination sheet must have the same column names as the source sheet. If the two sheets have different column names, the copy or move will create new columns. You must have a license and be shared to the destination sheet with Admin-level permissions to create new columns in it. For more information about moving rows, see Move Rows, Columns, or Cells.
Admin
All functions available to Editors, and the following:
- Change the sharing permissions of other collaborators (for example, from Editor to Admin)
- Insert, rename & delete columns, change column properties (licensed Admins only)
- Move columns within the sheet (licensed Admins only)
- Share saved filters so that others can use them (not available in single-user plan types)
- Hide or unhide columns (licensed Admins only)
- Lock or unlock columns and rows
- Edit cells in locked columns or rows
- Set notifications and reminders for others
- Edit conditional formatting rules
- Create and manage forms (licensed Admins only)
- Enable dependencies on a project sheet:
- If all required columns (start, end, duration, predecessors) already exist in the sheet, both licensed and unlicensed Admins can enable dependencies.
- If the sheet doesn't contain a required column, only a licensed Admin is able to enable dependencies as doing so will require Smartsheet to insert new columns.
- Edit dependency settings
- Publish the sheet
- Create and edit an automated update request or approval request rule. (licensed Admins on Business and Enterprise plans)
NOTE: Some features listed above are only available to licensed Admins. For more about managing users on a multi-user plan, see Managing Users. (Not sure which plan type you have? See Identify Your Smartsheet Plan and User Type.)
Sheet Owner
All functions available to Admins, and the following:
- Delete and undelete the sheet
- Re-name the sheet
NOTE: When using a workspace, any collaborator with Admin access to the workspace will also have the ability to delete and re-name the sheets it contains. If a sheet is deleted from a workspace it's recoverable for 30 days from the Admin and sheet owner's Deleted Items folder.
Sharing Permission Levels on Reports
Viewer
- Refresh and run the report to update its content
- View all report data in all columns, including comments (if they're also shared to the underlying source sheets)
- Export the report
- Download attachments
- Send the report through email to themselves or others
- No editing or sharing power
Editor
All functions available to Viewers, and the following:
- Edit unlocked rows and columns (if they also have permission to the sheets)
- Add new attachments and comments
- Freeze columns
- Enable or disable Highlight Changes
- Share with others if allowed
Admin
All functions available to Editors, and the following:
- Change the sharing permissions of other collaborators (for example, from Editor to Admin)
- Edit unlocked rows and columns
- Modify the Report Builder criteria
- Sort the report
- Add, re-arrange, and remove columns from the report
Report Owner
All functions available to Admins, and the following:
- Re-name the report
- Delete the report
NOTE: When using a workspace, any collaborator with Admin access to the workspace will also have the ability to delete and re-name the reports it contains. If a report is deleted from a workspace it's recoverable for 30 days from the Admin and sheet owner's Deleted Items folder.