Table of Contents
- The three access levels
- Document owner
- Who you can share a document with
- How "admins of a group" works
- Change access on a document
- Bulk edit access on multiple documents
- FAQ
The three access levels
Every person or group that has access to a document is given one of three access levels:
| Access level | What you can do |
|---|---|
| No access | Cannot view or interact with the document |
| Only see | Can view and download the document, but cannot edit details or change access settings |
| See and edit | Can view, download and edit the document, manage access settings and delete the document |
⚠️ A document must always have at least one person or group with "See and edit" access. If the last person with edit access is removed, Huma will warn you before saving.
💡 The document owner always has "See and edit" access and cannot be downgraded.
Document owner
The person who uploads or creates a document automatically becomes the document owner. The owner is the only person who can manage access settings until they explicitly share the document with others.
This means that when a document is first uploaded, only the owner can see it. No one else has access until the owner actively shares it.
Once the owner grants "See and edit" access to another person or group, that person can also manage access settings for the document.
⚠️ If the document owner leaves the organisation and their account is deactivated or deleted, no one will be able to manage access, edit or delete the document unless ownership has been transferred or "See and edit" access has been granted to someone else beforehand.
💡 We strongly recommend always sharing important documents with at least one other person with "See and edit" access, to ensure continuity if the owner is unavailable.
🔗 Read more about how to transfer document access.
Who you can share a document with
When sharing a document, you can choose from the following:
| Share with | Who gets access |
|---|---|
| Everyone in the organisation | All active employees |
| A specific person | One individual employee |
| Members of a group | All members of a specific team, location or company |
| Admins of a group | Only users who have a user role with document access over that group |
⚠️ Sharing a document with "Everyone in the organisation" means all active employees will have access to it. Use this option carefully for sensitive documents.
💡 We always recommend granting "See and edit" access to at least one specific person, such as an HR manager, in addition to sharing with a group. This ensures someone can always manage the document even if group membership changes.
How "admins of a group" works
"Admins of a group" is not a fixed list of people. It refers to anyone who has a user role with document access granted over that specific group at any given time.
Example: An employment contract for Ewa
An employment contract for Ewa is shared with:
- Ewa — with "Only see" access
- Kari (HR manager) — with "See and edit" access
- Admins of Team X — with "See and edit" access
| Person | Access |
|---|---|
| Ewa | ✅ Can view the document |
| Kari (HR) | ✅ Can view and edit the document |
| Admins of Team X | ✅ Can view and edit — if they have a user role with document access over Team X |
| Regular members of Team X | ❌ No access — the document is not shared with all members of Team X |
💡 This is why sharing with "admins of a group" is powerful. When a new person gets a document user role over the group, they automatically gain access to all documents shared with that group's admins, without any manual updates.
Change access on a document
- Go to the Documents module and open the document
- Click "Document settings"
- Add or remove people and groups
- Set the access level for each
- Click "Save"
⚠️ Only users with "See and edit" access can change who has access to a document.
🔗 Read more about how to transfer document access.
Bulk edit access on multiple documents
You can update access for multiple documents at once using two methods:
Extend access
Adds new access settings on top of the existing ones. Useful when you want to give additional people access without removing existing access.
- Select the documents you want to update using the checkbox to the left of each document
- Click "Access" in the action bar at the bottom of the screen
- Choose "Extend"
- Add the people or groups and set the access level
- Click "Save"
Replace access
Completely replaces the existing access settings with new ones. Use with caution — this will remove all existing access and replace it with what you specify.
- Select the documents you want to update
- Click "Access" in the action bar
- Toggle "Replace"
- Type the confirmation text to verify you understand the consequences
- Set the new access settings and click "Save"
⚠️ After replacing access, only the access settings you specified will remain. Make sure at least one person retains "See and edit" access.
FAQ
Can I see who currently has access to a document?
Yes. Open the document and click "Manage sharing" to see a full list of everyone with access and their access level.
What happens if I accidentally remove everyone's "See and edit" access?
Huma will warn you before saving if you try to remove the last person with "See and edit" access. You cannot save a document with no one having edit access.
Can members of a group see documents shared with "admins of that group"?
No. Documents shared with "admins of a group" are only visible to users who have a document user role over that group, not to regular members of the group.
What does "Restricted document" mean?
It means you can see the document name in the list, but you have not been granted access to its content. You need to be explicitly added to the document to view it.