SharePoint Owner vs Member: Privileges in Microsoft 365 ?

When it comes to making the most out of Microsoft 365 for your company, it is important to understand the access and collaboration-related privileges various roles have, including owners and members.

To help you get clarity on this area, we have created this brief SharePoint owner vs member guide that compares access privileges of the two roles in Microsoft 365.

Understanding the Roles

First, it’s worth fully understanding the owner and member roles in SharePoint Online to learn about the privileges and limitations that come with them.

1. Understanding SharePoint Online’s Owner Role

An owner in SharePoint Online refers to a user who has complete access to a SharePoint Online site. A site owner can manage the site’s overall settings, with permissions being one of the most important parameters.

2. Understanding SharePoint Online’s Member Role

A member in SharePoint Online refers to a member of a SharePoint Online site. Any member can contribute to a site but cannot manage the site’s settings or make administrative changes.

SharePoint Owner vs Member: Comparison of Privileges

Here is a brief comparison of the privileges that owners and members of SharePoint Online sites have:

Privileges Owner Member
Manage site settings Yes NO
Manage site permissions Yes No
Customize site appearance Yes No
Viewing access Yes Yes
Editing access Yes Yes
Deleting privilege Yes Yes
Contributing privilege Yes Yes

Who Make Ideal Owners and Members?

Now that the differences in roles and their privileges are clear, it’s also important to understand who in your company are the best fit for these two roles. By assigning the roles properly, you can ensure smooth management of all the sites in your company’s SharePoint Online environment.

1. Best Fits for Owner Roles

People in leadership roles, such as team leaders, reporting managers, HR managers, and CEOs make the best fit for site owners. With administrative privileges, these leaders can manage the sites effectively as per the company’s requirements and collaboration structures.

2. Best Fits for Member Roles

People in the execution teams, such as developers, marketers, analysts, etc, should ideally be members of the SharePoint Online sites. As members, these users with these job functions can contribute to the sites as needed.

Planning to Adopt SharePoint Online?

If your company is planning to adopt SharePoint Online and the overall Microsoft 365 cloud suite? Leverage our industry-leading SharePoint Online migration tool to make the transition smooth and secure.

Interested in a free and no-obligation migration demo? Contact us today!

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the difference between owner and member in SharePoint teams?

An owner in a SharePoint team site is the owner of the site and has complete administrative privileges. And a member is a member of any SharePoint site that has contribution privileges.

2. What is a SharePoint owner?

A SharePoint owner is the owner of a team or communication site in SharePoint Online.

3. What is a SharePoint member?

A SharePoint member is a member of a team or communication site in SharePoint Online.

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