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Bypass access restrictions on a page with admin key

This feature is offered with Confluence Cloud Premium and Enterprise.

As an admin, there may be times when you need to access content that you haven’t been given permission to view. For example, you may need to unlock a restricted page or space created by an inactive user, or you may need to diagnose content access issues. Admin key allows site admins to access restricted content so they can address these needs.

Use admin key to access a restricted page

To use admin key, go to the page you need to access, and click View now in the admin key panel.

When an admin opens a restricted page, they can use admin key to temporarily bypass restrictions.

This enables admin key and gives you full access to the page. When you use admin key to access a page, we’ll record it in your site’s audit log and send an email notification to the page owner. We’ll also record any changes you make in the audit log and page history.

Once admin key is enabled, you’ll be able to see and navigate to other restricted content on your site. If a page is restricted, there will be a red lock icon next to its name in the page tree.

Restricted pages will have a red lock icon by their name in the page tree.

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's in the audit log and email notification?

When you use admin key to access a page, we record the following information in the audit log:

  • Your name

  • The date and time you used admin key

  • The fact that you logged in and out of admin key

  • The name of the page you accessed and whether you viewed or edited the page

  • Permissions changes you made, if any

We also send an email notification to the page owner. The email notification includes the following information:

  • Your name

  • The name of the page you accessed

  • An explanation of why admins typically use admin key

And, we let the page owner know your changes are recorded in the audit log and page history.

Additional Help