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ShareFile
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User roles and permissions

June 19, 2025
Contributed by: 
P P

The following information provides descriptions for both user roles and user permissions in ShareFile.

User roles

User role Description
Employee users An Employee user is an internal licensed user within your company. Employee users may be granted a wide range of permissions and access to your account.
Account owner As the account owner, you have an employee user type with the highest level of permissions. This allows you to authorize account-wide settings and delegate privileges to other employee administrators. There is only one account owner role per account.
Administrator As a ShareFile administrator, you have an employee user type with granular administration privileges on the account. Depending on your administrator permission, you can authorize account changes on behalf of the account owner.
Super user As a designated user for the Super User Group, you have automatic access with full control (Download, Upload, Delete, Admin) to all new existing folders within a ShareFile account, and can manage all the account data.
Client user Client users are non-licensed users that have limited access to your ShareFile account based on how they are added and how you set permissions for new clients.

User permissions

ShareFile permissions are designed to give you granular control of your account. Users may be granted a wide range of permissions and access to your account:

General

  • Access company account permissions - This permission grants the user the ability to access and change the account wide permissions. For a detailed list of the options they will be able to access, see Advanced preferences.

Files and Folders

Files and Folders permissions are:

  • Create root-level folders in “Shared Folders (default) - This permission allows the user to create root-level folders in “Shared Folders”.
  • Use personal File Box (default) - This permission grants the employee user access to the File Box.

For more information, see Folders.

E-Signature

E-Signature permissions are:

  • Send documnents for e-signature (default) - This permission allows the user to select files to “send for signature”. This permission will use one e-signature license.
  • View all e-signature documents - This permission allows the user to view all e-signature documents.
  • Manage e-signature templates - This permission grants the user the ability to create e-signature templates.

For more information, see Electronic signature.

People

People permissions are:

  • Manage Clients (default) - This permission allows the employee user to manage clients.

    Note:

    To be able to delete clients, you need the Manage Employees permission.

  • Manage Employees - This permission allows the employee user to create and manage other employees.
  • Delegate admin privileges to other employee users - This permission allows the employee user grant other employees admin permissions.
  • Edit Shared Address Book (default) - With this permission, the employee will be able to add users to the Shared Address Book which allow other employee users to see these contacts in the system.
  • Share distribution goups - This permission allows the employee user to create a Shared Distribution group.
  • Edit other users’ shared distribution groups - This permission allows the employee user to add/delete users within a Shared Distribution group.
  • Manage super user group - This permission allows the employee user to add/delete users within a Super User Group.

For more information, see People settings.

Company Account Info

Company Account Info permissions are:

  • Edit account appearance - This permission allows the employee to configure account branding and appearance settings. See Company Branding
  • Access reporting - This permission allows the employee to create account-wide reporting. See ShareFile Reporting.
  • View notification history - This permission allows the employee user to view the account’s notification history.
  • Configure single sign-on settings - This permission allows the employee user to configure single sign-on settings for the account.

For more information, see Account and Reporting.

Billing

Billing permissions are:

  • View/edit billing information - This permission allows the employee user to view the account’s billing information. See Edit Billing Information.
  • Request plan changes - This permission allows the employee user to request modifications to the account’s plan.
  • View receipts and billing notifications - This permission allows the employee user to download copies of billing receipts or add billing recipients. See Receipts and Billing Notifications.

Note:

Billing settings will display based on your plan type.

For more information, see Billing.

Connectors

Connectors permissions are:

  • Create and manage connectors - This permission grants the employee user the ability to create and manage Personal Cloud Connectors.
  • Create SharePoint connectors - This permission grants this employee user the ability to create and manage new SharePoint Connectors.
  • Create Network Share connectors - This permission grants the employee user the ability to create and manage new Network Share Connectors.

Note:

Connector settings will display based on your plan type.

For more information, see Connectors.

StorageZones

StorageZones permissions are:

  • Create and manage StorageZones - This permission grants the employee user the ability to create and manage Storage zones.
  • Select StorageZone for root-level folders - This permission grants the employee user with “Create root-level folders in Shared Folders” to choose the folder’s zone. In order to change another user’s default storage location, membership to the Super User Group is also required.

Note:

StorageZone settings will display based on your plan type.

For more information, see Storage zones

Advanced Preferences

Advanced Preferences permissions are:

  • Manage folder templates - This permission allows the user to create dynamic folder templates.
  • Manage remote upload forms - This permission allows the user to create and manage remote upload forms.
  • Manage file drops - This permission allows the user to create and manage file drops.

For more information, see Advanced preferences.

Requirements to modify permissions

  1. The delegate admin privileges to other employee users permission or Manage Employee Users permission.
  2. Employee users may only give or edit the permissions that they themselves have been given.

How to manage permissions

  1. Go to People > Manage Users (or Browse Employees or Browse client contacts).
  2. Browse or search for your user. Click the user or the Manage icon on the right, to open the user profile.
  3. Modify permissions as needed, then Save.

When creating a new employee, you can modify these settings during the user creation process.

Note:

A grayed setting indicates a permission that the creating user does not have access to or is not permitted to give to others - therefore, they cannot grant that permission to another user.

Toggling Admin rights

The table below outlines which permissions grant an Employee user Company Administrator access.

Assign the permissions marked with Yes to elevate an Employee user to Admin status.

Permission Type Permission Name Assigns Admin Privileges
General Access company account permissions Yes
Files and Folders Create root-level folders in “Shared Folders” No
Files and Folders Use personal File Box No
Files and Folders Manage Employees Yes
E-Signature Send documents for e-signature No
E-Signature View all e-signature documents No
E-Signature Manage e-signature documents No
People Manage Clients No
People Manage Employees Yes
People Edit Shared Address Book No
People Share distribution groups No
People Edit other users’ shared distribution groups Yes
People Manage Super User Group Yes
Company Account Info Edit account appearance Yes
Company Account Info Access reporting Yes
Company Account Info View Notification History Yes
Company Account Info Configure single sign-on settings Yes
Billing View/edit billing information Yes
Billing Request plan changes Yes
Billing View receipts and billing notifications Yes
Connectors Create and manage connectors Yes
Connectors Create SharePoint connectors No
Connectors Create Network Share connectors No
StorageZones Create and Manage StorageZones Yes
StorageZones Select StorageZone for root-level folders No
Advanced Preferences Manage folder templates Yes
Advanced Preferences Manage remote upload forms Yes
Advanced Preferences Manage file drops Yes

ShareFile Employee vs Client permissions table

The table below lists which user permissions are available to Employee and Client users. Yes indicates availability; No indicates the permission is not available.

Permission Name Employee Client
Create Root Level Folders Yes No
Share and Request Files* Yes No
Be Folder Admin Yes Yes
Own Personal Folders Yes No
Own File Box Yes No
Access Personal Settings Yes Yes
Access Advanced and FTP Connection Settings* Yes Yes
Be granted Admin Permissions Yes No
Be granted Super User role Yes No
Create employee users and manage permissions Yes No
Create client users* Yes No
Access Inbox for Received Messages Yes Yes
Access Inbox for Sent Messages Yes No
Create distribution groups Yes No
Edit Shared Address Book Yes No
Modify Account Appearance Yes No
Run Reports Yes No
Create or access Connectors Yes No
Configure single-sign on settings Yes No
Send Encrypted Email Yes No
Edit Document* Yes Yes
ShareFile for Outlook* Yes No
ShareFile for Windows Yes Yes
ShareFile for iOS Yes Yes
ShareFile for Android Yes Yes
Mobile Editing Yes Yes
Send document for e-signature* Yes No
Manage e-signature templates* Yes No
Manage folder templates Yes No
View notification history Yes No
User roles and permissions
June 19, 2025
Contributed by: 
P P
June 19, 2025
Contributed by: 
P P

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