Files arent shown to people on library (when they should, they have permissions)

Question

Files arent shown to people on library (when they should, they have permissions)

Charlie Martharper 425

Hi!!

Some of the users are having issues with visualizing the files that other users are uploading. They upload the file, they edit it and check in the file. when the approver or editor still doesnt approve it, the others cannot look at it.

Is this normal?

I guess they should be able to look at the files if its still not approved., right? Maybe its because its checked out?

User's image

This is the library settings. Anyone who has acces and viewer permission should see the drawings right? I dont know why they arent.

User's image

Answer accepted by question author

1 additional answer

Your answer

Answer 1

Gabriel-N 15,130 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi Charlie Martharper

Based on my testing, your current library configuration is actually correct.

With Content Approval enabled and Draft Item Security set to “Any user who can read items”, users who have Read permission should be able to view documents that have just been uploaded, as long as the file has been checked in at least once, even if the document is still in Pending approval status.

However, one important detail I noticed is that your library is using the modern view. In the modern experience, when a file is uploaded, it is not always checked in automatically. In my testing, right after uploading a file in the modern view, SharePoint did not allow me to check it in immediately from the main action bar. I had to select the three vertical dots > More > Check in. Only after that first check‑in did the file become visible to users with Read permission.

User's image

Could you please double‑check whether the affected files have actually been checked in the first time (via the three dots > More > Check in)?

Additionally, could you help confirm how permissions are currently assigned to the affected users? In my test, when users are added to the Visitors group (Read permission), they can view uploaded documents normally once those documents have been checked in, with the same library settings as shown in your screenshot.

If the issue still persists after verifying the initial check‑in, could you please share:

What files you see in the library when viewing it as an admin, and
What the same library looks like when accessed by a user who only has Read permission?

That comparison would help narrow this down further.

Looking forward to your reply.

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Gabriel-N 15,130 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-23T07:30:09.2166667+00:00

Hi Charlie Martharper

May I know whether your issue has been solved or not? If not, please share it in here. We can work together to figure it out.
Charlie Martharper 425 Reputation points

2026-03-23T08:03:54.1966667+00:00

Hi @Gabriel-N

I am still testing, let me a few hours to finish them.

Let me understand if there is a file in modern view that has 3 or more versions but is checked out (because someone is editing), the other users cannot see neither the last version + the drawing? Like the file is not there?

Can you show me the versioning settings of your library?

Because the thing I would like to do is, even if they upload any file, all the users should be able to read that file, even if it is not approved. Is this possible?
Gabriel-N 15,130 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-23T10:48:38.4166667+00:00
Hi Charlie Martharper

I have the same settings as yours.

However, if the goal is that whenever a user uploads a file, all users should be able to read it immediately, even if it has not been approved, then the recommended approach would be:

Set Require content approval to No, and

Set Require documents to be checked out before they can be edited to No.

With these two options disabled, documents will be visible to all users with Read permission as soon as they are uploaded, without waiting for approval or an initial check‑in step.
Charlie Martharper 425 Reputation points

2026-03-23T10:55:26.1366667+00:00

@Gabriel-N

In the case they have uploaded already with this last settings you sent and I changed it to "NO" in both, will those be visible to the users with read permissions? Or should them approve or what? Because some of the users already uploaded files and they are complaining that will be very long to approve them one by one. Is there a possibility to approve multiple files at once?
Gabriel-N 15,130 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-23T11:14:15.3966667+00:00

Hi Charlie Martharper

On my side, it works as expected.

With those settings disabled, as soon as a file is uploaded, users with Read / Visitor permission can see it right away.

I’d suggest you test the same scenario on your side as well, and let me know the result. If it still doesn’t work, feel free to share the details and I’ll be happy to help you investigate further.
Gabriel-N 15,130 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-23T12:16:58.3866667+00:00

Hi Charlie Martharper

I noticed you added a few more questions that "Because some of the users already uploaded files and they are complaining that will be very long to approve them one by one. Is there a possibility to approve multiple files at once?"
May I know if you still need answers for those?

From what I’ve observed on my side, once those two options are set to No, users with Read / Visitor permission can see the file immediately after it is uploaded (a simple refresh is enough), even if the file is not approved.
Hope this info helpful.
Charlie Martharper 425 Reputation points

2026-03-24T07:24:31.9133333+00:00

Hi @Gabriel-N

Yes, if you want I open another question, but the thing is, they maybe will have to approve multiple files at once, so the question was it there is a way to approve them with one unique action, and not 1 by 1.

The other thing I guess it will work, the permissions in my case is read files (lectura documents) not just read, I guess that will work right?
Gabriel-N 15,130 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-24T15:28:54.86+00:00

Hi Charlie Martharper

Thanks for raising this. I did some initial testing today, and from what I can see, bulk approval doesn’t work through the SharePoint Server UI. Even when selecting multiple files, the Approve/Reject action only applies to one item, which seems to be the expected behavior. If we do need to approve multiple files at once, using PowerShell is likely the way to go.

Regarding the permission screenshot you shared earlier, that view is mainly to clarify who has the permission to approve items. It doesn’t affect whether approvals can be done in bulk. For example, users with Read permission won’t be able to approve content at all, approval requires an Approve / Document Approver permission level (or higher).

Let’s continue testing this tomorrow and see if there’s anything else we can confirm or improve, but based on today’s testing, bulk approval via the UI doesn’t appear to be supported.

Answer 2

Yes, this behavior is normal with the settings shown.

In a library where content approval is required and versioning is enabled, items that are not yet approved are treated as drafts. Who can see those drafts depends on the “Who should see draft items in this document library?” setting:

When content approval is required, a draft (Pending item) is normally visible only to the item’s creator and to people who have permission to approve items or manage lists. Other users only see the last Approved (major) version, or they see nothing if no version has been approved yet.
This means that if a user uploads a file and it is still in Pending (not approved), other users with only read or standard permissions will not see it, even though they have access to the library.

From the documentation:

Drafts are created when an item is updated but not yet approved in a library that requires content approval.
By default, a pending item or file is visible only to its creator and to people with permission to manage lists, unless the draft visibility settings are changed.

To allow more people to see unapproved items, adjust the library’s versioning/approval settings so that draft items can be viewed by users with read or edit permissions, or disable required content approval if it is not needed.

This behavior is independent of check‑out; check‑out affects who can edit, but the visibility issue here is caused by the content approval and draft‑item visibility configuration.

References:

How versioning works in lists and libraries

Share via

Files arent shown to people on library (when they should, they have permissions)

1 additional answer

Your answer