How to copy a user's permissions to another user in SharePoint

Video chapters

1. 0:00 Introduction
2. 0:18 David's access in SharePoint
3. 0:35 Sandra has no access yet
4. 0:50 Tasks > Grant access > Clone user permissions
5. 1:01 Pick the sites
6. 1:08 Pick the account to clone from
7. 1:27 Map David to Sandra
8. 1:41 Choose what gets cloned
9. 2:02 Preview with Flag only
10. 2:18 Review the preview report
11. 2:35 Sharing links are cloned too
12. 2:43 Turn Flag only off and run
13. 2:56 29 permissions cloned
14. 3:10 Check the result in SharePoint
15. 3:29 Wrap-up

Full transcript

0:00 Thanks for joining. Before we begin, just a disclaimer: this video was written by the Cognillo team, and this voice-over was AI-generated. In this video, we'll copy one user's SharePoint permissions to another user, so a new team member gets exactly the same access as a colleague.

0:18 Here's our Architecture Knowledge Base site. David Cooper, a project manager, has Contribute permission given to him directly on the site. He's also in the site's Members group. And deeper down, he has his own access to a library, to individual files, and a Specific people sharing link.

0:35 Sandra Brooks has just joined David's team. Check Permissions shows she has no real access here yet, only limited access through Everyone except external users. Matching David by hand means finding every place his access was granted.

0:50 In SharePoint Essentials Toolkit, go to Tasks, and pick the Grant access area. Then choose Clone user permissions.

1:01 Tick the sites to include. Here it's the Architecture Knowledge Base, but you can pick as many sites as you

1:08 need. Under Accounts to clone, pick the account to copy from: David Cooper. Click Next. The summary spells out what the job will do, and warns that Flag only is off, so this job makes changes.

1:27 On Settings, map David to the account that should get the same access. Search for Sandra Brooks, and select her. You can map one account to several people at once.

1:41 Then choose what's cloned: site collection administrator roles, site permissions and group memberships, Microsoft 365 group membership, list and library permissions, and item, file, folder and page permissions. You can also remove David's access once the clone succeeds, which is handy when someone takes over a role. We'll leave that off.

2:02 First, turn on Flag only. It previews every permission that would be granted, and changes nothing. Click Run now. The toolkit scans the site, every list and library, and every item with its own permissions, to find everywhere David has access.

2:18 The report lists each of David's permissions, with the matching grant for Sandra, marked flag only. Searching for Directly shows the permissions given to him directly: Contribute on the site, Edit on the Handover Documents library, and Contribute on one file, the Capital Budget Tracker.

2:35 His Specific people sharing link on the Critical Customer Checklist is picked up too. Sandra is added to the same link.

2:43 Happy with the preview? Click Edit options, and turn Flag only off. Run it again. This time, every permission is granted, in just over a minute.

2:56 Twenty-nine permissions, all cloned for Sandra: her Members group membership, the direct permissions on the site, the library and the file, and the sharing link.

3:10 Back in SharePoint, Sandra now appears in the site's permissions with Contribute, just like David. Check Permissions confirms it: Contribute given directly, and Edit through the Architecture Knowledge Base Members group. And she's in the Members group, alongside David.

3:29 Thanks for watching. Whether it's a new hire, a role change, or a replacement, you can copy one user's SharePoint access to another in a single job, preview it first, and undo the grants from History if you need to. And if you have any questions, email hello at cognillo dot com.

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