Box: Waterfall Permissions

Box permissions follow a "waterfall" design: access flows down from a folder to everything beneath it.

  • When you're invited to a folder, you get the same access to all of its subfolders and files, including ones added later. For example, an Editor on a folder is also an Editor on every subfolder and file inside it.
  • You don't get access to anything above the folder you were invited to.
  • If you're invited to a single file, you can access only that file, not the folder it's in.

Examples

These examples use a "Projects" folder that contains two project folders, "Project ACME" and "Project Increo", each with its own subfolders.

Invited to a top-level folder

User A is invited to the Projects folder as an Editor. User A has Editor access to Projects and to every folder beneath it: Project ACME, 2018, Project Increo, Meetings, Kickoff Meeting and Project Plan.

Diagram: access to the Projects folder flows down to every folder beneath it

Invited to a subfolder

User B is invited to the Project Increo folder as a Viewer. User B has Viewer access to Project Increo and everything beneath it (Meetings, Kickoff Meeting and Project Plan), but not to Projects, Project ACME or 2018.

Diagram: access to the Project Increo folder flows down only to Meetings, Kickoff Meeting and Project Plan

What User B sees in Box

In All Files, User B sees only the Project Increo folder. The Projects folder above it doesn't appear.

User B's All Files list showing only the Project Increo folder

For more detail, see Box's article Understanding Item Permissions.

[authored via Jane by aca34 on 2026-10-01 19:55 UTC]

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