How can I restrict user access to a subfolder of a shared folder?

Last modified date: 2026-01-26

Applicable Products

QTS
QuTS hero
QuTScloud

Instructions for QTS and QuTScloud

Log in to your QNAP operating system as an administrator.
Open Control Panel.
Enable advanced folder permissions.
1. Go to Privilege > Shared Folders > Advanced Permissions.
2. Select Enable Advanced Folder Permissions.
3. Click Apply.
Enabled access-based enumeration settings on the shared folder.
1. Go to Privilege > Shared Folders > Shared Folder.
2. Locate the shared folder.
3. Under Action, click the Edit Properties icon.
  The Edit Properties window opens.
4. Select Enable access-based share enumeration (ABSE).
5. Select Enable access-based enumeration (ABE).
6. Click OK.
  A confirmation message appears.
7. Click Yes.
Edit user access permissions on a subfolder.
1. Back in Privilege > Shared Folders > Shared Folder, locate the shared folder again.
2. Under Action, click the Edit Shared Folder Permission icon.
  The Edit Shared Folder Permission window opens.
3. In the folder navigation panel, expand the shared folder to reveal its subfolders.
4. Select a subfolder to edit user access permissions.
5. Choose one of the following actions:
  - Select one of the following to change a user's access permissions: Read Only, Read/Write, Deny Access.
  - Select a user and click Remove to remove the user's access to the subfolder.
  - Click Add to grant a user access to the subfolder.
6. Click Apply.

Instructions for QuTS hero

Log in to QuTS hero as an administrator.
Open Control Panel.
Configure the shared folder permissions first.
1. Go to Privilege > Shared Folders > Shared Folder.
2. Locate the shared folder.
3. Under Action, click the Edit Shared Folder Permission icon.
  The Edit Shared Folder Permission window opens.
4. Go to the Users and groups permission tab.
5. Select Individual permissions to separately configure protocol permissions and ACL permissions.
  Important
  This step is required if you want to edit permissions for a subfolder separately from its parent shared folder.
6. Identify the user or user group you want to configure permissions for.
  Tip
  If an existing user or user group is not listed, click Add Users to add.
7. Select Read/Write for the user or user group.
8. Optional: Remove the Everyone group (if applicable).
9. Click Apply.
Configure the subfolder permissions.
Important
To configure the permissions of a subfolder separately from its parent shared folder, you must enable Individual permissions in step 3e above.
1. In the left panel, open the shared folder and select a subfolder.
2. Next to Permission style, select Windows Special Permissions.
3. Select one or more inheritance permission policies:
  - Replace all file and subfolder permissions with inherited permissions from this folder
  - Disable inheritance and remove all inherited permissions from this folder (this option is only available to subfolders)
  - Disable inheritance and convert inherited permissions on this folder into explicit permissions (this option is only available to subfolders)
4. Under Principal, identify the user or user group you want to configure permissions for.
  Tip
  If an existing user or user group is not listed, click Add Users to add.
5. Under Action, click the Edit icon.
  The Edit Principal window opens.
6. Under Apply to, select the scope of the permissions.
7. Select or deselect one or more permissions to grant the user.
  Note
  Selecting Full control selects and grants all permissions to the user.
8. Optional: Select Only apply these permissions to files and subfolders within this folder.
9. Click OK.

Applicable Products

Instructions for QTS and QuTScloud

Instructions for QuTS hero

Further Reading