Document security and access

Document access permissions for users and groups provide you with security for your documents.

Owner access to documents

By default, the document owner has all privileges to the document and can do the following:

Update the document parameters
Upload document versions
Create document references
Share a document with other users
Delete a document

Note:

If the document owner changes, the new owner obtains all rights to the document and the previous owner loses access. If the previous owner wants to keep access to the document, the document should be shared instead of transferring owner access.

Document access settings

You can access documents through three different settings.

Access	Description
By referenced records	When a document is referenced to a parent record, any user with access to the parent record has access to the document.
Admin access	All document users with admin access can access the document.
Shared permissions	Enables sharing a document with other users as Reader, Writer, or Owner at different permission levels such as:- User Permissions Group Permissions Role Permissions User Criteria Permissions

Access

Description

By referenced records

When a document is referenced to a parent record, any user with access to the parent record has access to the document.

Admin access

All document users with admin access can access the document.

Shared permissions

Enables sharing a document with other users as Reader, Writer, or Owner at different permission levels such as:- User Permissions

Group Permissions
Role Permissions
User Criteria Permissions

## Sharing permissions and roles

Users can give permissions to other users based on their own access to the document. The permission levels are:

Owner
Writer
Reader

To share documents with other users and groups you must have write access to the document record and roles to share at different levels.

Sharing permissions	User permissions required	Role required
User Permissions	All users even if they don’t have a role assigned	No role required. All users can share documents with other user
Group Permissions	Writers and Owners can assign access based on their access permissions	dm_user_group_read
Role Permissions	Writers and Owners can assign access based on their access permissions	dm_user_role_read
User Criteria Permissions	Writers and Owners can assign access based on their access permissions	dm_user_criteria_read

Share documents with users
Assign Reader, Writer or Owner permissions to users to enable them to read, download, update, or delete documents.
Share documents with groups
As a Writer or Owner, assign access to user groups based on your access permissions.
Share documents with roles
As a Writer or Owner, assign access and permissions based on user roles.
Share documents with user criteria
As a Writer or Owner assign access to a document based on the user criteria permissions.

Parent Topic:Document Management

title	Document security and access
description	Document access permissions for users and groups provide you with security for your documents.
locale	en-US
canonical_url	https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/servicenow-platform/document-management-services/document-access-settings.html
release	brazil
product	Document Management Services
classification	document-management-services
topic_type	concept
last_updated	2026-09-10
reading_time_minutes	2
breadcrumb	Document ManagementDocument ServicesManage content capabilitiesExtend ServiceNow AI Platform capabilities