How to prevent site Members from deleting files on a sharepoint site and allow sharing that does not require owner approval

Question

If I remove the permissions DeleteListItems, DeleteVersions and MangeLists from the Members Group Permissions. When the users share the document (internally or externally) the shared link is pending site owner approval. How can I remove the ability delete files and folders but allow sharing to work as normal?

Normal sharing behaviour is restored if I re-add the deletion permissions.

Answer 1

Hi @Bill King ,

Unfortunately, these two requirements cannot be realized at the same time. According to site sharing settings, only users with Edit permissions can share files and folders. Users have custom permissions and do need approval to share. This is by design. It is for information security reasons.

To address your concern about the issue, we’d suggest you go to feedback on this issue, this is the best platform to let us hear from you and make our products and services better for you and others. Microsoft values its customer feedback and a lot of features have been developed and suggested by customers via feedback. Your feedback is also very important. I am sure SharePoint developers are working on this. Our Product Team is in-charge of the site and they are constantly checking the comments and feedback from our customers.

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Answer 2

Hi @Bill King ,

You can try creating a new SharePoint group and add the people you want to add:

Site permissions-->Create Group.

Then use Copy Permission Level to create a custom permission level:

Site Permissions-->Permission Levels-->Edit-->Scroll down to find Copy Permission Level, then uncheck Delete Items, Delete Versions, and Manage Lists permissions, and save. Then, you can assign this custom permission level to the group.

I tested it and didn't encounter the situation you mentioned.

For more information, please refer to:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/community/sharepoint-security-a-team-effort#site-settings

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/solutions/microsoft-365-limit-sharing?view=o365-worldwide#sharepoint-site

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