SharePoint 2007 saw some big improvements on security over its predecessor SharePoint 2003 such as the introduction of item level permissions on list items and folders. One frustration that Site Administrators had in SharePoint 2007 was being able to view what permissions users or groups had to a specific object such as Site, List, Folder, or List Item. Since users often receive their permissions due to being a member of a SharePoint group or Domain Group which may also be nested. This meant without spending a lot of time investigating these permissions, users didn’t always receive the permissions that were required and subsequently that introduced more work for support staff or administrators.
In SharePoint 2007, this problem could be addressed using 3rd party products like the Lightning Tools DeliverPoint Permissions product. In SharePoint 2010 though, this problem has been addressed!
Whether you are managing a Site, List, Folder, or List Item you will find the button on the ribbon to check permissions (highlighted below).
You can check the permissions granted to an individual user or group, by either typing the name or selecting from the address book. This option is selected from the Manage permissions page on each securable object within SharePoint.
Once you click ‘Check Now’, you will see a report of permissions that the specified user or group has to the object, and how that permission was granted.
