Confluence Cloud Access Denied

Symptoms

User is not able to access Confluence, a space, or a page. Gets "Access Denied" error.

Possible Causes

• Global Permissions (only applicable if using JIRA Cloud) - Permission to log in to JIRA.

• Application Access (only applicable if using JIRA Cloud) - Access can be toggled on/off by a checkbox. In some cases a user might be inadvertently unchecked by an administrator.

• Space Permissions - Every space has its own independent set of permissions. Space permissions can only be granted by a space administrator.

• Page Permissions - Page restrictions allow you to control who can view or edit individual pages in a space. To add or remove restrictions to a page you will need to have permissions to edit the page and 'Restrict' or 'Admin' permission in the space.

  The 'Edit Space Permissions' page is divided into the following sections:

  • Groups – a list of groups which already have permissions to access the site.

  • Individual Users – a list of users who already have permissions to access the site.

  • Anonymous Access – the space permissions granted to all anonymous users of the site.

Resolution

Before changing permissions, identify where access is being denied:

• If the user cannot log in to Jira, check Global Permissions.

• If the user does not have access to Confluence and Jira is in use, check Application Access.

• If the user cannot access a particular space, check Space Permissions.

• If the user cannot view or edit an individual page, check Page Permissions and any page restrictions.

Then follow the matching resolution below. Space permissions and page restrictions are separate checks: a user may have access to a space while still being restricted from an individual page.

• Global Permissions - If using JIRA, check that user has permission to login.

• Application Access - If using JIRA, ensure the user has access to Confluence.

• Assign space permissions - Permissions are broken up into seven categories:

• All (View)

• Pages (Add/Restrict/Delete)

• Blog (Add/Delete)

• Comments (Add/Delete)

• Attachments (Add/Delete)

• Mail (Delete)

• Space (Export/Admin)

For basic access, ensure the user has All (View). Other permissions control actions such as adding, restricting, or deleting pages; adding or deleting blog posts, comments, and attachments; deleting mail; and exporting or administering the space.

• Edit the page in question and review its restrictions. To add or remove page restrictions, you need permission to edit the page and either Restrict or Admin permission in the space.

• Space Permissions overview - General overview of how Confluence permissions are applied

Warning: If you deny all administrative access to a space by mistake, so that nobody has access to administer the space any more, you will need to ask someone in the confluence-administrators group to fix the permissions for you.