Understanding Collaborator Permission Levels

When inviting a person as a collaborator within a folder, you have the ability to set the level of access that person has to your content. Refer to the following chart to review the different permissions that accompany each permission level:

^{* Comments can be deleted only by the folder owner, co-owner, or the creator of the comment.}

^{** Viewers are able to download the file and upload it somewhere else, or to use the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+c and Ctrl+v to make a copy of the file in a folder they have access to.}

^{*** Copy is allowed only by using the keyboard shortcut (A Viewer Uploader will not see 'Copy' as an option from the context menu for a given file).}

^{**** Co-owners and editors can move only content contained in the folder they are collaborating on. For example, if a collaborator is invited to Folder A, which contains Folder B and File C, the collaborator can move only Folder B and File C, and cannot move the top-level item.}

^{† Currently applies only to the enhanced version of File Request.}

^{†† Co-owners and editors can delete sub-folders, but not root folders. Only owners can delete folders at the root level. If a co-owner attempts to delete a root folder on their account, they receive an option to End Collaboration.  Co-owners and editors can permanently delete collaborated content from trash if the owner's trash settings permit and the content is not retained by a policy.}

^{††† Owners and co-owners of the folder containing the annotated document, as well as the annotation creator, can delete an annotation.}

^{†††† Previewers and Previewer Uploaders cannot highlight and comment.}

^{††††† If the Hide collaborators and their activity from non-owners setting is turned on for a folder, owners and co-owners still see file activity, but editors do not. See Managing Collaborators for more information. If your admin enabled the Restrict Content Creation setting, only the primary admin and co-admin can export access stats reports.}

Available to all Accounts:

• Editor: An editor has full read/write access to a folder or file. Once invited to a folder or file, the editor is able to view, download, upload, edit, delete, copy, move, rename, generate and edit shared links, make comments, assign tasks, create tags, and invite/remove collaborators. The editor is not able to copy, delete, or move root level folders.
• Viewer: A viewer has read access to a folder or file. Once invited to a folder, the viewer is able to preview, download, make comments, and generate shared links. The viewer is not able to add tags, invite new collaborators, edit shared links, upload, edit files, or delete items in the folder.

Available to Business and Enterprise Accounts.

• Previewer: A previewer has limited read access. The previewer is able only to preview the items in the folder using the integrated content viewer. The previewer is not able to share, upload, edit, or delete any content.
• Uploader: An uploader has limited write access. The uploader is able only to upload and see the names of the items in a folder. The uploader is not able to download or view content.
• Viewer Uploader: This access level is a combination of Viewer and Uploader. A viewer uploader has full read access to a folder and limited write access. They are able to preview, download, add comments, generate shared links, and upload content to the folder. They are not able to add tags, invite new collaborators, or delete items in the folder. To update a file, people with this permission had to download a file, edit it locally, and re-upload (using the same file name). Effective May 2014, these collaborators can use Box Edit to perform the same action (download, edit, and re-upload) seamlessly.

   

  Note:

  Viewer uploaders cannot modify file names nor delete files. They can only edit files using Box Edit, or continue to use the manual process of download, edit, and re-upload.

   

• Previewer Uploader: This access level is a combination of Previewer and Uploader. A previewer uploader has limited read and write access to a folder. They are able to preview, add comments, add tasks, and upload content to the folder. They are not able to add tags, generate shared links, invite new collaborators, edit or delete items in the folder.
• Co-owner: A Co-owner has all of functional read/write access that an editor does. This permission level has the added ability of being able to change some advanced folder settings. Co-owners cannot change the owner of a folder.