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Troubleshoot permission problems fast

Have you ever needed to access a restricted page when a team member was out on vacation or has left the company? Unless someone can grant access to the page, that content can be lost forever, making it difficult for teams to move work forward without key information or context.

Luckily, with Confluence Premium, admins get access to advanced permissions that can help troubleshoot permission problems in just a few clicks. 

troubleshooting permissions

What is admin key?

As a Confluence admin, you might encounter situations where you need access to content that you don’t currently have permission to view. This could involve unlocking a restricted page or space created by an inactive user, or diagnosing access issues.

Admin key offers temporary elevated access to restricted content for real-time support and configuration without altering permanent permissions, improving both security and compliance. This feature enables Confluence and site admins to effectively manage these permission problems while maintaining control over security and compliance.
 


Get started with admin key

  1. Go to the page you need to access, and click View Now in the admin key panel.
  2. Once admin key is enabled, you can see and navigate to other restricted content on your instance. If a page is restricted, there will be a red lock icon next to its name in the page tree.
  3. When you’re done using admin key, select Stop using admin key from the banner at the top of your screen. For security reasons, you’ll lose access to restricted pages after a few minutes of inactivity.

What is inspect permissions?

Additionally, inspect permissions provides a detailed view of who has access to a specific page, helping admins swiftly analyze and resolve permission conflicts. If you’re not sure why a user does (or does not) have permission to view, edit, or comment on a page, you can inspect and edit their permissions from that page. For example, granting users access to a previously restricted page. You’ll also get a report showing at which level of the page, space, and product hierarchy they’re being denied (or allowed) permissions. 


Together, these advanced permissions feature support smooth workflows and uninterrupted collaboration by allowing admins to manage access levels and quickly resolve permission problems. 


Get started with inspect permissions

  1. Go to the page you want to inspect permissions on. 
  2. Click the restrictions (lock) icon at the top of the page. 
  3. Click the Inspect permissions link.
  4. Type the name of the user whose permissions you want to view.
  5. Choose the permission you want to inspect: Can view, Can view and edit, or Can view and comment.
  6. A report appears and shows whether the user has permission at each level of the page, space, and product hierarchy.

Additional resources

See how to use advanced permissions

How to bypass page restrictions with admin key

How to inspect a user’s permissions