Roles and permissions
Every member of a project has one of three roles: Owner, Editor or Viewer. This page lists what each role can do, so you can pick the right one when you invite someone.
The three roles
Section titled “The three roles”| Role | In short |
|---|---|
| Owner | Full control: members, settings, archive, transfer and delete. The owner’s plan sets the project’s limits. A project has exactly one owner. |
| Editor | Edits documents, saves versions, creates branches, renames the project, and opens, approves and merges pull requests. |
| Viewer | Reads documents, history and pull requests, and takes part in discussions. Cannot change the files. |
The person who creates a project is its owner. When you invite someone, you choose Editor or Viewer; ownership can only move by transferring it. There are no other roles, such as commenter-only or custom roles.
What each role can do
Section titled “What each role can do”Reading, compiling and exporting
Section titled “Reading, compiling and exporting”| Action | Owner | Editor | Viewer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open the project and read every file | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Follow other people’s edits live in the editor | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Compile and download the PDF | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Export the source files as a .zip | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Read history, branches and pull requests | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Editing and versions
Section titled “Editing and versions”| Action | Owner | Editor | Viewer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type, upload, create, rename and delete files | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Save version… | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Revert to last version and Restore this version | ✓ | ✓ | – |
Edit the protected main branch directly (when Protect main is on) |
✓ | – | – |
| Save as template from the project | ✓ | ✓ | – |
Branches and pull requests
Section titled “Branches and pull requests”For how these work, see Branches and Pull requests.
| Action | Owner | Editor | Viewer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Create and rename branches | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Delete a branch | ✓ | – | – |
| Open, close and reopen pull requests | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Approve a pull request (not your own) | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Merge a pull request | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Edit a pull request’s title and description | ✓ | Own only | Own only |
| Change merge settings (Protect main, required approvals, delete branches after merge) | ✓ | – | – |
Editors can merge pull requests into main even when Protect main is on. Protection stops direct edits to main, not merges. See Merge settings.
Discussions and comments
Section titled “Discussions and comments”| Action | Owner | Editor | Viewer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start a discussion and reply | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Comment on a pull request or on a saved version | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Edit or delete your own reply or comment | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Edit the title and text of your own discussion | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Resolve, reopen or delete a discussion | Any | Own only | Own only |
| Delete someone else’s reply or comment | ✓ | – | – |
Project and members
Section titled “Project and members”| Action | Owner | Editor | Viewer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rename the project and edit its description and accent colour | ✓ | ✓ | – |
| Invite people, and resend, change or revoke invitations | ✓ | – | – |
| See pending invitations | ✓ | – | – |
| Change a member’s role or remove a member | ✓ | – | – |
| Transfer ownership | ✓ | – | – |
| Archive, unarchive or delete the project | ✓ | – | – |
| Leave the project | – | ✓ | ✓ |
The owner cannot leave a project. To step away, transfer ownership to another member first; you then stay on as an Editor and can leave.
Archived projects
Section titled “Archived projects”When the owner archives a project, it becomes read-only for every role, including the owner. Nobody can edit, save versions, compile, comment or change members. Everyone can still read the files and history and export the source. Members can still leave, and the owner can unarchive or delete it. See Archive and delete.
Whose plan applies
Section titled “Whose plan applies”Plan limits on a project, such as collaborator seats, storage and how far back version history goes, follow the owner’s plan, for everyone on the project. On the Free plan, versions older than the history window are hidden, and their stored files can be deleted after an email notice; see Version history. Some features follow the plan of the person using them. See Plans and limits.