How to create a group under permission management for a SharePoint library.

Question

I want to create a group to assign specific permissions to a particular library in SharePoint. Although I have Site Owner access, I’m unable to see the option to create a group.

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Moved from: Microsoft 365 and Office | SharePoint | Open Specifications

Answer 1

Hello @Nittal Kumar,

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Q&A forum.

Based on the information you shared, I understand that you are trying to create a group that you can use to assign permissions in SharePoint Online.

In SharePoint Online, there are three types of groups you can work with: Microsoft 365 groups, security groups (including mail‑enabled security groups), and SharePoint groups.

Microsoft 365 groups and security groups can be used across multiple Microsoft services such as SharePoint, Teams, Outlook, and more. They are not limited to a single site. SharePoint groups, however, only work within the specific SharePoint site where they are created.

If you want to create a SharePoint group, you can follow these steps:

1. Click the Settings (gear) icon in the top‑right corner of your site and select Site permission

2. Choose Advanced permissions settings.

3. At the top of the page, click Create Group.

If you need a group that can be used on multiple SharePoint sites, I would recommend creating a security group instead. You may need to ask your IT administrator to help create this type of group, depending on your permissions. If you have any other questions or need additional support, please feel free to let me know. I’m happy to help and look forward to hearing back from you.

Answer 2

In SharePoint, custom permission groups are created at the site collection level, not directly “under” a specific library. Once a group exists, it can be used to grant unique permissions on that library.

Key points from the provided information:

1. Groups are defined at site collection level
   A group is “a set of users that are defined at site collection level for easy management of permissions.” Anyone with Full Control can create custom groups.
2. Default groups and permission levels
   Typical default groups and their permission levels are:
   • Owners – Full Control
   • Members – Contribute
   • Visitors – Read
   Site owners can also create custom groups and custom permission levels (except for Limited Control and Full Control) and then assign those to site content, including a specific library.
3. Recommended approach
   • Create or use a SharePoint group at the site collection level.
   • Break permission inheritance on the target library and assign permissions to that group.
4. Why the “create group” option may not appear
   The context states that “Anyone with Full Control permission can create custom groups.” If the account is only in a group that does not truly have Full Control at the site collection level (for example, a customized role or a subsite-only owner), the UI to create groups may not be available. In that case, a user who has Full Control at the site collection level must create the group, or adjust permissions so that the current account has Full Control at that level.

Once the group exists, assign it to the library by breaking inheritance on that library and granting the desired permission level (for example, Contribute or Read) to the new group instead of to individual users.

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References:

• Plan sites and manage users
• Understand groups and permissions on a SharePoint site
• Overview: Site governance, permission, and sharing for site owners
• Change a site's title, description, logo, and site information settings