Read-Only Files
I would like to be able to adjust member settings such that members only have read-only access to files. Otherwise, the ability to make some files read-only access by members would be another way of accomplishing this. That way only owners can edit it.

26 comments
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Anonymous commented
This a much needed option. Why is it only possible to give edit persmissions to members. You should be able to make files read only or libraries read-only.
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Anonymous commented
I could modify permissions in SharePoint (Can edit => Can view), but that would apply to all team members. I would also need to grant edit permission to some users and view permission to some others.
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Mannu commented
having a member with read or edit permissions would be very useful as opposed to just Members(edit) & Owners. In many cases, we need only few members to be able to edit the documents and a larger audience to read /consume the documents.
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Anonymous commented
Having a secure read-only format for MS OFFICE files would be of value. We do not wish for users working from home to download documents on local devices.
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Anonymous commented
I would love this feature. We have a few skilled users who work out of a document and if someone else came in there and edited something, or worse deleted, it would be devastating to our process. I have wanted this feature for 2 years now of using Teams!
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Robert commented
Are there plans to get this on the roadmap? This is a feature that we need for managing content and preventing accidental edits. As mentioned by others, managing permissions in SharePoint is not really a viable option.
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Anonymous commented
Louis McCarthy,
"Open in SharePoint" is not an option for us or anyone else I know using office 365.
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Louis McCarthy commented
Yes, you can use the SharePoint side to change it:
Go to Files tab in teams and click on any file's ellipsis hot area
Select "Open in SharePoint"
Wait a few seconds for it to open in a browser window
Click on the file in the SharePoint browser window
Click on the "Manage access" URL
Click on the team "[team-name] Members" upside down caret hot area
Select "Can view" instead of the "Can edit"Boy, it would be so much simpler if there was a "Set to read-only" in teams...
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Anonymous commented
Even as an individual user I would love to be able to open a document read only, so that any accidental changes I make don't get automatically saved back.
For example, I often press control-F to start a search, and the system's response is so slow that the first letter or two of what I search for are treated as edits - inserted wherever the insertion point happens to be!
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J. Liew commented
This would be very important in Teams for Classroom. It would be great to quickly upload a file without having to save a copy as a PDF and then set it to read-only in Teams. Big time saver!
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Jim L commented
I would love to have Read-Only channels. For instance I would love to be able to place things like an employee manual or certain paper forms that would be read-only out to a team where all employees are part of the team.
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Phread commented
Having the three level access would be very useful. Owners with admin, Members with contribute and Visitors with read only. We have multiple times where a limited number of people should be able to edit files, with more read only and only want a single/few owners.
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Anonymous commented
This can be accomplished by changing the file/folder access in sharepoint.
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Anonymous commented
It's crazy there is a files area and students can DELETE files. How are we suppose to use Teams for education if you haven't thought about a school setting?
This is why i'm using google products instead. Get it together microsoft. -
Anonymous commented
I need this feature as well!
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Anonymous commented
I need this too. Without this feature, the ability to use Teams to distribute templates for use by team members is useless since the members can change the template. I need to be able to Lock my templates from change within Teams but when the user downloads it, the file must be editable.
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Anonymous commented
I understand files in Teams are actually stored in a Team specific Sharepoint "Site", and all files in a Sharepoint site have the same permissions as it's defined at the site level, not at the file level. So let's not ask for a too massive change ;)
One thing that would be VERY useful and relatively easy to do IMHO, is to simply have to ability to indicate a team member is a Visitor (read-only), as opposed to only be a "Member" (read-write-delete) or an "Owner"(full admin rights). The change would have an effect on ALL files in the Team site.
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Anonymous commented
Hi Could you please create a read-only permissions for members of Teams . Currently I have to circulate documents as attachments on email and be mindful what version has been circulated at which point. This is very inconvenient.
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Anonymous commented
Please do this. As it is, we have multiple issues setting permissions in Sharepoint and allowing access through Teams.
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Michael Krokosh commented
I have many Teachers in our school district requesting that there is a way to make the files tab in MS Teams 'read' only for students. This way it would function as storage device for Teacher resources, shared to students, where students could not alter or destroy materials. The conversations tab is great for collaborating, the files tab should be for sharing resources, not having students create or alter them. Thank you for looking into this.