Sharing permission levels and tasks

There are five permission levels in Smartsheet. When you share a Smartsheet item with someone, you can set the following permission levels: 

• Admin
• Editor - can share
• Editor - cannot share
• Commenter
• Viewer

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Your ability to share an item and assign permissions depends on your permission levels. You can’t assign permissions higher than your own.

Tasks and permissions

The permission level you assign determines which features a collaborator has access to for the item you're sharing (a sheet, report, or workspace, for example). 

If you create an item, you’re the Owner of that item.

Go to the sharing permissions and levels table for a detailed breakdown of tasks and permission levels. 

It's possible to be a System Admin on a Business or Enterprise plan with only Viewer-level sharing access to a particular sheet. You could also be a collaborator with Admin-level sharing access to a sheet.

Some features listed here are available only to paid users. See the Identify your Smartsheet plan and user or seat type article.

You can change permission levels at both the item and workspace levels. For items, open the item and select Share. For workspaces, open the workspace and select Share > Workspace.

Check your permission level on a Smartsheet item

There are two ways to do this:

• Check the file properties
  1. In the menu bar, select File > Properties. 
  2. In the Permissions row, you can see the permission level. 
• Open the Sheet Sharing form
  1. In the upper-right area of the Smartsheet item, select Share. 
  2. In the People with access section, search for your name. The permission level appears on the right side of your email address. 

If you have permissions but still can’t do what you need to, contact your System Admin.

Share an item

The ability to share an item depends on your permission level for that actual item.

The button in the upper-right corner might vary depending on your item permissions:

• As a Viewer, Commenter, and Editor - cannot share, your button reads: Request to edit. Selecting it triggers an access request for an Admin or Owner to approve.
• As Editor - cannot share, your button reads: Request to share.
• As an Editor - can share, Admin, or Owner, your button reads: Share. Selecting this allows you to share the item with other people inside and outside of the organization.

If you have Editor cannot share or lower permissions, use the Request higher permissions modal to get sharing or editing permissions.

Use the Message (optional) box to include a reason why you’re requesting higher permissions.

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Use a contact column to share an item

If you’re assigned as Editor of an item, you can add unshared contacts to a contact column and use the prompt that appears to quickly share those people to your item. 

The permission level assigned by default is Editor-can share.

If you continue to add contacts without dismissing the prompt, you can bulk-share your item.

Sharing items through a contact column is only available when using table view. Learn more about table view.