How to Check Site Permissions in SharePoint Online [Step-by-Step]

If you’ve ever needed to figure out why someone can’t access a site, or you just want to make sure the right people have the right level of access, you’re in the right place. Checking site permissions in SharePoint Online is something every site owner or admin needs to know how to do. And honestly, once you know where to look, it’s pretty straightforward.

In this SharePoint tutorial, I’ll walk you through multiple ways to check permissions — from the simplest point-and-click method to using PowerShell for a more detailed view. Let’s get into it.

What Are SharePoint Permissions, Anyway?

Before we jump into the how-to part, let me quickly explain what SharePoint permissions actually are — just so we’re on the same page.

Permissions in SharePoint control what a user can do on a site, library, list, or even a single file. They’re organized into permission levels, and each level bundles together a set of actions:

• Full Control – The user can do everything, including managing settings and adding/removing people. This is what site owners typically have.
• Edit – Users can add, edit, and delete items in lists and libraries.
• Contribute – Similar to Edit, but slightly more restricted. Users can add or update items, but can’t delete entire libraries.
• Read – View-only access. Users can look at content and download files, but can’t change anything.
• View Only – Like Read, but users can’t even download files. They can only preview content in the browser.

These permission levels are then assigned to users or groups, which is how SharePoint controls who can do what.

Now, SharePoint Online uses three default groups out of the box:

• Owners – Full Control
• Members – Edit
• Visitors – Read

For Team Sites connected to Microsoft 365 Groups, permissions are also managed through the Microsoft 365 Group itself — so someone added to the Group automatically gets site access. Communication Sites, on the other hand, use the classic Owners/Members/Visitors model only.

Check Site Permissions in SharePoint Online

Here, I will show you five methods for checking site permissions in SharePoint Online.

Method 1: Check Site Permissions from the Site Settings Panel in Sharepoint

This is the quickest way to get an overview of who has access to your site. You don’t need any admin tools — just site owner access.

Steps:

1. Open the SharePoint site you want to check.
2. Click the gear icon (⚙) in the top-right corner.
3. Select Site permissions from the dropdown.

A panel will slide out on the right side of your screen. Here you’ll see:

• The three default groups: Owners, Members, and Visitors
• How many people are in each group
• Any sharing links that are active

You can click on any group to see exactly who’s in it. This gives you a quick snapshot — great when you just need to confirm someone is in the right group.

When to use this: Perfect for a quick, high-level check. If you just want to see who has access and what group they’re in, this is your go-to.

Method 2: Use “Check Permissions” to Look Up a Specific User in SharePoint

This method is a lifesaver when someone says, “I can’t access the site,” and you need to quickly check their permissions. Instead of scrolling through a list of users, you just type their name and get a direct answer.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Open the SharePoint site.
2. Click the gear icon (⚙) → Site permissions.
3. In the permissions panel, scroll down and click Advanced permissions settings. (This opens a classic-style page — don’t be alarmed, that’s normal.)
4. In the ribbon at the top of the page, click Check Permissions.
5. A small pop-up will appear. Type the name or email address of the user or group you want to check.
6. Click Check Now.

SharePoint will instantly show you:

• What permission level does that person have on the site
• Whether they have access through a SharePoint group or a direct assignment
• Whether the permission is inherited or unique

Example: Let’s say your colleague Sarah says she can’t edit a document. You go to Check Permissions, type in Sarah’s name, and the result shows she’s in the Visitors group — which is Read-only. That’s your answer. You just move her to the Members group and she’s good to go.

This is probably the most useful built-in tool for day-to-day troubleshooting.

Method 3: Check Permissions on a Specific Library, List, or File in SharePoint Online

Sometimes you don’t want to check site-level permissions — you want to see who has access to a specific document library, folder, or even a single file. This is especially useful when unique (broken) permissions have been applied at the item level.

For a Document Library or List:

1. Go to the library or list.
2. Click the gear icon (⚙) → Library settings (or List settings).
3. Under Permissions and Management, click Permissions for this document library.
4. You’ll see a list of all users and groups with their permission levels on that specific library.

For a Specific File or Folder:

1. Hover over the file or folder.
2. Click the three dots (…) → Details.
3. In the details pane, click Manage access.
4. You’ll see who has access, what kind of access they have, and any sharing links.

This is where it gets interesting — if you see a notice that says “This library has unique permissions”, it means it’s no longer inheriting permissions from the site. It has its own permission rules. That’s important to know, especially for security audits.

Method 4: View Group Memberships in SharePoint Online

Another angle to look at this is checking what users belong to which SharePoint group. This helps when you want to audit group memberships rather than checking individual users.

1. Go to Gear icon → Site permissions → Advanced permissions settings.
2. You’ll see all the groups listed (Owners, Members, Visitors, and any custom groups).
3. Click on any group name to see all its members.

From inside the group page, you can also go to Settings → View Group Permissions to see exactly what permission level the group has on each site or subsite.

Pro tip: If your Team Site is connected to a Microsoft 365 Group (which most modern Team Sites are), some users might have site access through the Group rather than a SharePoint group directly. Go to Gear icon → Site permissions and look for the “Group membership” section at the top of the panel to see those users.

Method 5: Check Permissions Using PowerShell (PnP PowerShell)

If you need to audit permissions across a whole site or export results to a spreadsheet, the manual methods above won’t cut it. That’s where PowerShell comes in.

I’ll show you the PnP PowerShell approach — it’s the cleanest and most modern way to work with SharePoint Online programmatically.

First, make sure you have PnP PowerShell installed. If you don’t:

Install-Module PnP.PowerShell

Connect to your SharePoint site:

Connect-PnPOnline -Url "https://yourtenant.sharepoint.com/sites/your-site" -Interactive

Get all permissions for the site:

Get-PnPPrincipalPermission | Select PrincipalId, PrincipalType, RoleName, Scope

This gives you a list of all users and groups, along with their role names (like Full Control, Edit, Read) and the scope they apply to.

Filter by a specific user or group:

Get-PnPPrincipalPermission | Where-Object { $_.Principal.Title -like "*John Smith*" } | Select PrincipalId, PrincipalType, RoleName, Scope

Just replace John Smith with the name you’re looking for.

Export the results to a CSV file:

Get-PnPPrincipalPermission | Select PrincipalId, PrincipalType, RoleName, Scope | Export-Csv -Path "C:\Permissions_Report.csv" -NoTypeInformation

This gives you a spreadsheet you can share with managers or keep as an audit record. Very handy.

When to use PowerShell: When you’re dealing with a large site, need to audit multiple users at once, or want a documented record of who has access to what.

SharePoint Inherited vs. Unique Permissions — And Why It Matters

One thing that trips people up is the concept of inherited vs. unique permissions.

By default, everything in SharePoint inherits permissions from the level above it:

• A library inherits from the site
• A folder inherits from the library
• A file inherits from the folder

When you break that inheritance and set custom permissions on a library, folder, or file — those are called unique permissions.

Why does this matter? Because if someone has access to the site, they might not have access to a specific library if that library has unique permissions that exclude them. This is a common reason why people say “I can see the site, but I can’t find a specific document.”

When you’re checking permissions and something doesn’t add up, always check whether the library or item has unique permissions — that’s usually where the answer is hiding.

Common Scenarios and Quick Fixes

Here are a few real-world situations you’ll probably run into:

“A user says they don’t have access to the site”
→ Go to Check Permissions (Method 2), type their name, and see what comes up. If nothing shows, they haven’t been added at all. If it shows Read, they might be in the Visitors group when they need to be in Members.

“A user can access the site but not a specific library”
→ Check if that library has unique permissions (Method 3). If it does, the user might not be listed there even though they’re on the site.

“You want to see a full list of everyone with access before offboarding a project”
→ Use PowerShell (Method 5) to export a full permissions report.

“A guest user says they can’t access the site”
→ Check at both the site level and the specific content level. Also confirm that external sharing is enabled on the site and at the tenant level in the SharePoint Admin Center.

A Few Things to Keep in Mind

• You need to be a Site Owner (or have Full Control) to check permissions on a site. If you’re just a Member, you won’t see the Check Permissions option.
• For Team Sites connected to Microsoft 365 Groups, some access is managed through the Group — not directly in SharePoint. Always check both.
• For Channel Sites in Teams, permissions are managed entirely through Teams and appear as read-only in SharePoint. Don’t try to change them from the SharePoint side.
• Nested security groups (groups inside groups) can cause performance issues and sometimes make permission auditing harder. It’s worth simplifying these when you get the chance.

You may also like:

• Set Column Default Value in SharePoint Library
• Give SharePoint Library Upload Access to External Users
• Restrict User Access to Specific Document Libraries in SharePoint

Checking site permissions in SharePoint Online doesn’t have to be confusing. Once you know the right tools to use — the Site Permissions panel for a quick overview, Check Permissions for individual users, and PowerShell for bulk auditing — you’ll be able to troubleshoot access issues in minutes rather than hours.