Assign access levels to a group
A group's access level setting determines which permissions apply to each group role—that is owners, managers (available only if Groups for Business is turned on), and regular members. You can select an access level setting for a group when you create or edit the group in the Admin console.
The access level settings that are available include Public, Team, Announcement and Restricted. The permissions that apply to each of these access level settings determine which group roles can perform certain tasks, and differ depending on whether Groups for Business is turned on or off.
The following access level settings are available on the Create a group page in the Admin console:
- Public: This setting creates a group that's open to anyone in your domain and, depending on your settings, that people outside your domain can can send messages to.
- Team: Select this setting to create a group for a specific internal department or team.
- Announcement: Use this setting to create a group for broadcasting internal information. For example, a group for announcing company news to employees.
- Restricted: This setting creates a private group for employees who share private or sensitive information.
The permissions that apply to each of these access level settings determine which group roles can:
- Join the group if the Groups for Business service is turned on.
- Send messages to the group
- View the group's members list, which can appear on the group's Members page if Groups for Business is turned on, and in calendar invitations.
- Invite new members to the group if Groups for Business is turned on.
- View the group's discussion archive if Groups for Business is turned on.
This table shows who can perform specific tasks according to each access level setting when the Groups for Business service is turned on:
| Join the group | Send messages | View the members list* | Invite new members | View the discussion archive | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public | Anyone in your domain | Anyone in your domain | Anyone in your domain | Owners, managers, and members | Anyone in your domain |
| Team | No one—only owners and managers can add members | Anyone in your domain | Anyone in your domain | Owners and managers | Anyone in your domain |
| Announcement-only | Anyone in your domain | Owners and managers | Owners and managers | Owners, managers, and members | Anyone in your domain |
| Restricted | Anyone in your domain | Owners, managers, and members | Owners, managers, and members | Owners and managers | Owners, managers, and members |
*These group roles can view the members on the group's Members page in your Groups directory. If someone in your domain invites this group to a calendar event, the invitation will display the group's members, and any invitees can view the members list in the invitation.
Additional settings
The following access level settings are also available if you've set your Groups for Business sharing options accordingly:
- Public + Also grant this access to anyone on the Internet: If your Groups for Business sharing options are set to Public on the Internet, you can allow people from outside your domain to access the group by selecting this option along with the Public Access Level setting.
This allows anyone on the internet to join the group, send messages and view the discussion archives. The members list is not displayed in calendar invitations that these users create, unless you edit the group's access level settings to allow them to view it.
- Team + Also allow anyone on the Internet to post messages: If you've selected the Group owners can allow incoming email from outside this domain checkbox in your sharing options, you can allow people from outside your domain to contact your public-facing departments or teams by selecting this option along with the Team Access Level setting.
This allows anyone on the internet to send messages to the group. The members list is not displayed in calendar invitations that external users create, unless you edit the group's access level settings to allow them to view the member's list.
Note: Members of these groups might receive more spam messages, depending on the availability of the group address. For example, malicious senders often send spam to email addresses they find on publicly accessible web pages.
You can set more permissions for your group in the Groups for Business service by going to the group's page in your Admin console and clicking Access Settings. Learn more
This table shows who can perform specific tasks according to each access level setting when the Groups for Business service is turned off:
| Send messages | View the members list* | |
|---|---|---|
| Public | Anyone on the Internet | Anyone in your domain |
| Team | Anyone in your domain | Anyone in your domain |
| Announcement-only | Owners | Owners |
| Restricted | Owners and members | Owners and members |
*These group roles can view the members on the group's Members page in your Groups directory. If someone in your domain invites this group to a calendar event, the invitation will display the group's members, and any invitees can view the members list in the invitation.
Custom settings
After you create a group, you can set custom access settings. Select this option to choose your own access levels for a group. You can specify who can send email to the group and who can display the group's members list in calendar invitations.
Notes:
- Custom settings are only available in the Admin console when the Groups for Business service is turned off.
- Members of public groups might receive more spam messages, depending on the availability of the group address. For example, malicious senders often send spam to email addresses they find on publicly accessible web pages.
