Groups
The Groups page is where you create and manage user groups. A group carries what its members can use and reach: the licences that decide which apps they see, the permissions that decide which controls they get, and the folders, dataviews, projects, records and register rows they are granted. Every user in a group inherits all of it, so a group is the main way to give many users the same access at once.
Who configures this
Users with the Group and User Admin permission (see Permissions) and the Admin Console licence. The Groups page is under Admin Console > Groups.
What you can do in Groups
- Create a group with a name, a description and the licences its members need.
- Add users to a group and remove them.
- Choose which apps the group's members can open (Licenses).
- Mark a group as an External User Group for people outside your organisation.
- Mark a group as the Default group, so that every new user joins it.
- Link a group to a directory group (Linked directory group) so that its membership follows your identity provider.
- Give a group permissions.
- Give a group access to folders, dataviews and interfaces, projects, records and register rows.
- Delete a group.
How groups work
A user's access is the sum of every group the user belongs to, plus anything granted to the user directly. Removing a user from a group takes away what only that group gave.
| What a group controls | Where you set it | When it takes effect |
|---|---|---|
| Members | Details tab, Members panel | At once, when you tick or untick a user. |
| Name, description, External User Group, Default group, Linked directory group, Licenses | Details tab | When you select Save Changes. |
| Permissions | Permissions tab | At once, when you tick or untick a permission. |
| Folders | Folders tab | At once. |
| Dataviews and interfaces, projects, records, register rows | Their own tabs of the Settings dialog | At once. |
The Groups page
The Groups page
| Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Groups: N | The number of groups in the list. It follows the search. |
| Create Group | Opens the Create New Group dialog. |
| Search groups | Filters the list by group name. |
Each row in the list is one group.
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Settings (gear icon) | Opens the Settings dialog for that group. |
| Name | The group name, with a letter badge. A group that is linked to a directory group also shows a Directory-managed badge. |
| Description | The description given to the group. |
| Members | The number of users in the group. |
The Create New Group dialog
The Create New Group dialog
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Group Name | The name of the group. Required. |
| Description | What the group is for. Required: Create Group stays unavailable until the name and the description are both filled in. |
| External User Group | Marks the group as an external user group. See External User Group. |
| Default group | Makes every new user a member. See Default group. |
| Licenses | The apps the group's members can open. See Licenses. |
Select Create Group to save the group. Its Settings dialog opens, where you add members and the rest of the group's access.
The Settings dialog
The gear icon in a group's row opens its Settings dialog. The left-hand navigation lists seven tabs.
The Settings dialog, on the Details tab
| Tab | Description |
|---|---|
| Details | The group's profile, its licences and its members. |
| Permissions | The permissions the group gives its members. See Permissions. |
| Folders | The folders granted to the group. A folder is visible only to the users and groups it has been granted to. See Access Control. |
| Dataviews & Interfaces | The dataviews and interfaces the group can open. |
| Projects | The projects the group can see. A project is visible only to the users and groups assigned to it, or to everyone when it is granted to Everyone. |
| Records | The records the group can use. |
| Register row access | The register rows granted to the group. Its members can see these rows and the documents linked to them. |
The Folders, Dataviews & Interfaces, Projects and Records tabs list the objects you can grant, with a filter button that reads All. Choose Allowed to see what the group already has, No Access to see what it lacks, or Everyone for objects that are open to everyone. The Folders and Records tabs have no Everyone filter.
The Details tab
The Details tab has the group's profile on the left and a Members panel on the right. Changes to the profile and to Licenses appear with a Save Changes button at the bottom right. Members are saved at once.
Group profile
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Group Name | The name of the group. |
| Description | What the group is for. |
| External User Group | Marks the group as an external user group. See External User Group. |
| Default group | Makes every new user a member. See Default group. |
| Linked directory group | The object ID of a directory group. See Linked directory group. |
| Delete Group | Deletes the group. See Delete Group. |
Licenses
The Licenses tick boxes decide which apps the group's members can open. A user sees an app only when a group of theirs holds its licence, and most apps also need the right permissions.
| Licence | What it opens |
|---|---|
| Downloads | The Downloads app. |
| Search | The Search app. |
| Explorer | Explorer. |
| New | The New app, where documents, projects, contacts and the configuration areas are created. |
| Inbox | The Inbox. |
| Workflows | The Workflows app. |
| Admin Console | The Admin Console. |
| Oliver | The Oliver AI assistant. |
| Dashboards | The Dashboards app, for organisations that have it. |
The list shows the licences your organisation has, so it can differ from this table.
Members
The right-hand panel lists the users in your organisation. A ticked user is a member of the group. Ticking or unticking a user adds or removes them at once; there is no Save Changes to select.
| Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Members count | The number of members out of the number of users, for example 1 / 27. |
| Filter | Shows all users, only the members, or only the users who are not members. |
| Search users… | Narrows the list by email address or name. |
External User Group
An External User Group
Tick External User Group for people outside your organisation, such as customers or contractors who take part in workflows. Ticking it changes the group straight away:
- The New and Admin Console licences are unticked and cannot be ticked while the group is external. The hint under the box reads: external groups are used to assign workflow actions to users outside your organisation, and the restricted apps (Admin Console and New) are disabled.
- The Inbox and Explorer licences are ticked.
- The group is given four permissions at once: Review Document, View Folders, View Folder Views and Full Document Details.
The licences are saved with Save Changes. The four permissions are saved as soon as you tick the box. Other licences stay as you set them.
Default group
A Default group
Tick Default group to make the group part of every new user's starting access. Every user you invite joins the default groups automatically, in addition to any group chosen at the invitation. If your organisation creates users from its directory when they sign in, those users join the default groups too, and the organisation takes part only while at least one group is a default group (see Tenant Settings).
Because a default group applies to everyone who joins later, keep its permissions and licences to the minimum a new user needs. Ticking the box does not add the users who are already in your organisation: tick them in the Members panel if they need the group. More than one group can be a default group at the same time.
Linked directory group
A group linked to a directory group
Leave Linked directory group empty to manage the group's members in Docwize. To make the membership follow your identity provider, paste the object ID of a directory (Microsoft Entra) group into the field and select Save Changes. The hint under the field changes to say that people added or removed in the directory are added or removed here at their next sign-in, and that you can rename the group freely because the link is the ID, not the name.
The Directory-managed badge
A linked group shows a Directory-managed badge in the Name column of the list. Clear the field and save to unlink the group.
Delete Group
The Delete Group dialog
Delete Group opens a confirmation. Delete Group in the dialog stays unavailable until you have typed the group's name (capital letters do not matter) and a reason of at least 50 characters. The reason is recorded in the Activity Monitor. Deleting a group removes every user from it, so its members lose the permissions, licences and access they had only through it. The first group, Administrator, cannot be deleted.
How to create a group
Creating a group, choosing its licences and members, and deleting it
| Step | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Go to Admin Console > Groups and select Create Group. |
| 2 | Type a Group Name and a Description. |
| 3 | Under Licenses, tick the apps the group's members should open. |
| 4 | Select Create Group. The group's Settings dialog opens on the Details tab. |
| 5 | In the Members panel, search for a user and tick them. They join the group at once. |
| 6 | To change the group's licences, tick or untick them and select Save Changes. |
| 7 | Open the Permissions tab to give the group permissions. |
How to add or remove a member
| Step | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Go to Admin Console > Groups and select the gear icon in the group's row. |
| 2 | On the Details tab, type part of the user's email address or name in Search users…. |
| 3 | Tick the user to add them, or untick them to remove them. The change is saved at once. |
How to assign permissions to a group
Giving a group a permission
| Step | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Go to Admin Console > Groups and select the gear icon in the group's row. |
| 2 | Select Permissions in the left-hand navigation. |
| 3 | Hover a permission to read its description, then tick it. The change applies to every member at once. |
| 4 | See Permissions for what each permission does. |
How to assign folder access to a group
A folder is visible to a group's members only once it has been granted to the group. The change takes effect at once.
| Step | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Go to Admin Console > Groups and select the gear icon in the group's row. |
| 2 | Select Folders in the left-hand navigation. |
| 3 | Type part of the folder's name in Search folders. A folder the group has not been granted is on a red row. |
| 4 | Select the plus beside the folder. The dialog asks you to confirm. Include Subfolders is ticked, so the folder's subfolders are granted too. |
| 5 | Select Add. The row turns green. |
To take a folder away from the group, select the minus beside it and confirm with Remove.
Sharing a folder with a group
How to make a group an external user group
| Step | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Open the group's Settings dialog and stay on the Details tab. |
| 2 | Tick External User Group. The New and Admin Console licences are unticked and unavailable, and Inbox and Explorer are ticked. |
| 3 | Select Save Changes. |
| 4 | Open the Permissions tab to check the four permissions the group was given, and change them if the group needs less. |
How to make a group a default group
| Step | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Open the group's Settings dialog and stay on the Details tab. |
| 2 | Tick Default group. |
| 3 | Select Save Changes. Users you invite from now on join the group. |
| 4 | To stop it, untick Default group and select Save Changes again. Users who already joined stay members until you untick them. |
How to link a group to a directory group
| Step | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Copy the object ID of the group from your directory (in Microsoft Entra, the group's Object ID). |
| 2 | Open the group's Settings dialog and paste the ID into Linked directory group. |
| 3 | Select Save Changes. The group shows the Directory-managed badge in the list. |
| 4 | To unlink it, clear the field and select Save Changes. |
How to delete a group
| Step | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Open the group's Settings dialog and stay on the Details tab. |
| 2 | Select Delete Group. |
| 3 | Type the group's name to confirm, and give a reason of at least 50 characters. |
| 4 | Select Delete Group. The group disappears from the list and its members lose what only it gave them. |
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Detail |
|---|---|
| Create Group is unavailable | The dialog needs both a Group Name and a Description. |
| Delete Group is unavailable | Type the group's name exactly as it is shown and give a reason of at least 50 characters. |
| Deleting a group removes access for all members | All users in the group immediately lose the permissions, licences and access that came only from it. Check the Members panel and reassign users first. |
| A user cannot open an app | Check that one of the user's groups has the app's Licenses ticked. Opening an app needs the licence and the appropriate permissions. |
| A permission cannot be removed in a user's panel | A permission that comes from a group is shown in grey in the user's Permissions panel. Change it in the group, which changes it for all its members. |
| A group changes more users than expected | A group may have more members than you thought. Review the Members panel before changing its permissions or licences. |
Related configuration
- Admin Console — overview of all Admin Console areas
- Users — manage individual user accounts and assign users to groups
- Permissions — what each permission in a group's Permissions tab does
- Access Control — folder security, project security, and document-level access
- Tenant Settings — settings that apply to new users