How to Set SharePoint Pages Read-Only for Members

Recently, I worked with a client to create a SharePoint home page for them. Initially, everything worked as expected, but after a few days, team members reported that they could no longer view or edit the home page. When I checked, I realised that members had permission to modify the page, and one of them even accidentally deleted it.

After restoring the page, the client required a solution that allowed only the site owners to edit SharePoint pages, while all other members could only view them. In this tutorial, I will show you how to set up your SharePoint site so that pages are secure and only editable by owners.

Set SharePoint Pages Read-Only for Members

When you create a SharePoint site, by default, members can sometimes edit pages. But sometimes you want to make sure that only site owners can edit pages, while everyone else can just view them safely.

Here, I will show you two simple ways to do this:

• Restrict Access to the Site Pages Library in SharePoint
• Restrict Editing on a Specific SharePoint Page in SharePoint

Restrict Access to the Site Pages Library in SharePoint

You know all our SharePoint pages are stored in a special folder called the Site Pages Library. By default, members can edit pages here. So we need to restrict that to do this, follow the steps below:

1. Go to the SharePoint site and click the Settings (gear icon) -> Site contents. Click on Site Pages.

2. Click the Settings (gear icon) -> Library settings. Under Permissions and Management, click Permissions for this document library.

3. Click Stop Inheriting Permissions.

4. Click the checkbox next to Members Group, then click on Edit User Permissions.

5. Uncheck the checkbox next to Edit and check it next to Read. Click OK.

Now, only site owners can edit pages in the library, while members can only view them.

Restrict Editing on a Specific SharePoint Page in SharePoint

If you want to protect just one important page, like your home page, without changing permissions for the whole library, follow the steps below:

1. Open the SharePoint site and go to the page you want to protect in Site Pages library.

2. Click the three dots (…) next to the page -> Manage access -> Groups.

3. Remove edit access from the Members group and make sure Owners retain Full Control.

When the members access the user’s open page, they can view but cannot edit it.

Now, this specific page is safe, and only site owners can make changes.

Note: New members added to the Members group automatically get view-only access. Modern announcements, news, events and wiki pages are considered pages, so members will no longer be able to create or edit them.

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• Create a Custom Site Template In SharePoint Online
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