Hi, I have selected the view only permission level in SharePoint. This allows me to restrict downloads for MS office documents only. However, I want to be able to restrict download and print of PDF files.Is there a way to do this or is it a limitation? Thank You

HelloSunilK90 As per my expierence, yes you can restrict the files download on SharePoint Online, by gaving view only permission, which prevent end user from downloading files on Sharepoint. View Only permission include view pages, items, and documents. Any document that has a server-side file handler can be viewed in the browser but not downloaded. File types that do not have a server-side file handler (cannot be opened in the browser), such as video files, .pdf files, and .png files, can still be downloaded. for more Info, please refer to following article https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/understanding-permission-levels unfortunately, his Option is available only on the Sharepoint root site, which means you can assign this permission level to the members on the root site, then inherit the permission. But as i saw, you want to restrict PDFs only, which can be achieved also using IRM SharePoint Policy. IRM stand for Information Rights Management, and can use to restrict Office apps ex. prevent files from printing, Outlook ex. to prevent and protect specific emails from being forward for also Exchange Online and Sharepoint. Set up Information Rights Management (IRM) in SharePoint admin center:https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/compliance/set-up-irm-in-sp-admin-center?view=o365-worldwide Apply Information Rights Management (IRM) to a list or libraryhttps://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/compliance/apply-irm-to-a-list-or-library?view=o365-worldwide please let me know if i could help you 🙂

Hi Mahhus, I've managed to restrict download and print for MS office files like word, excel and powerpoint using view only permission and IRM.My main purpose is that a person under a group with view only permissions should be able to view the PDF file in the browser, but not download or print the file. I noticed that upon doing this the PDF file says it is protected and cannot be downloaded by another user with view only permissions. ThanksRegardsSunil

Already tried. it does not work. I am not sure if the people that give these suggestions out in the forums above (not you, the links) actually test their advice. I created a custom permission level and spent 3 hours individually trying different combinations of permissions. Again, microsoft stated this is a known issue due to the fact that PDFs and other files have no server-side file handlers. There is no way to do this and actually limit downloading. You can limit downloading for word files all day. but not for what I need which is PDFs. Thank you for your suggestions however.

Hi, this is a known issue/limitation: "Any document that has a server-side file handler can be viewed in the browser but not downloaded. File types that do not have a server-side file handler (cannot be opened in the browser), such as video files, .pdf files, and .png files, can still be downloaded." So it is working the way it is intended, unfortunately. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/sharepoint/understanding-permission-levels#default-permission-levels

Hi,maybe you want to take a look at Azure Information Protection :https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/compliance/protect-sharepoint-online-files-with-azure-information-protection?view=o365-worldwidePDF is also supported.best regardsMichael

Is it possible to restrict download and print of PDF files in SharePoint online?

17 Replies

Mahhus
Copper Contributor
Mar 09, 2020
HelloSunilK90

As per my expierence, yes you can restrict the files download on SharePoint Online, by gaving view only permission, which prevent end user from downloading files on Sharepoint.
View Only permission include view pages, items, and documents. Any document that has a server-side file handler can be viewed in the browser but not downloaded. File types that do not have a server-side file handler (cannot be opened in the browser), such as video files, .pdf files, and .png files, can still be downloaded. for more Info, please refer to following article https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/understanding-permission-levels

unfortunately, his Option is available only on the Sharepoint root site, which means you can assign this permission level to the members on the root site, then inherit the permission.

But as i saw, you want to restrict PDFs only, which can be achieved also using IRM SharePoint Policy.

IRM stand for Information Rights Management, and can use to restrict Office apps ex. prevent files from printing, Outlook ex. to prevent and protect specific emails from being forward for also Exchange Online and Sharepoint.

Set up Information Rights Management (IRM) in SharePoint admin center:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/compliance/set-up-irm-in-sp-admin-center?view=o365-worldwide

Apply Information Rights Management (IRM) to a list or library
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/compliance/apply-irm-to-a-list-or-library?view=o365-worldwide

please let me know if i could help you 🙂
- SunilK90
  Copper Contributor
  Mar 10, 2020
  Hi Mahhus,
  
  Thank you for your reply. I have tried out what you've mentioned already. When I enable IRM, I'm unable to view the PDF file in the browser. I get a message saying that no preview is available. Though the download and print is restricted, my main purpose is to be able to still view the PDF file and that isn't happening.
  
  Please let me know if you know about this.
  
  Thank You
  Regards
  Sunil
  - Mahhus
    Copper Contributor
    Mar 10, 2020
    Hi SunilK90
    
    Have you tried to restrict downloading the office files like excel, or word using the IRM, if not please check and provide me your feedback.
    You mentioned also that you are not able to view the PDF in the browser, which is your main purpose, could you check if you can download the PDF file or not ?
    
    could you try using another PDF ?
    
    please provide me screenshot from the affected PDF which cannot be opend in the browser
    
    Best Regards,
    Mahhus
Michael365
Copper Contributor
Mar 09, 2020
Hi,
maybe you want to take a look at Azure Information Protection :
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/compliance/protect-sharepoint-online-files-with-azure-information-protection?view=o365-worldwide
PDF is also supported.

best regards
Michael
- kmktnn
  Iron Contributor
  Jan 22, 2021
  Michael365
  When we apply the view only permission to PDF files, we are not able to download the files using Edge and Chrome because with those browsers, the PDF files open in the browser by default.
  So this seems to be a solution to disable the download for PDFs.
  Do you know if with other browsers or extensions, this behaviour can be different?
  - EneaAntonicelli
    Copper Contributor
    Apr 30, 2021
    kmktnn
    
    Neither View Only, Restricted View, or a Custom View will prevent a user from downloading things like PDFs, PNG, video files, and etc.
    
    This is the issue most of us posting are having but the same responses regarding View Only keep coming up. Hitting the three dots will always show the "download" link no matter what. View only does NOT work.
    
    What I really want to understand, are answers such as this: "Any document that has a server-side file handler can be viewed in the browser but not downloaded. File types that do not have a server-side file handler (such as pdf files, video files, png files, etc.) can still be downloaded."
    
    I am not sure what this means since you can clearly preview a pdf entirely within SharePoint. How is that not a server side file handler? Why can't SharePoint simply restrict access to "Preview Only"?
- jcgonzalezmartin
  MVP
  Mar 09, 2020
  Yep,
  Best you can do here is to take a lool to AIP, Sensitivity Labels and also Contional Access
Cian Allner
Silver Contributor
Mar 09, 2020
Hi, this is a known issue/limitation:

"Any document that has a server-side file handler can be viewed in the browser but not downloaded. File types that do not have a server-side file handler (cannot be opened in the browser), such as video files, .pdf files, and .png files, can still be downloaded."

So it is working the way it is intended, unfortunately.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/sharepoint/understanding-permission-levels#default-permission-levels

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Is it possible to restrict download and print of PDF files in SharePoint online?

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