Folder structures are wrong the first time. Reorganising is normal — it just needs one thing understood first.
Moving changes who can see it
A file with no rule of its own takes its access from the folder it is in. Move it and it takes the new folder’s access instead.
| Move | Effect |
|---|---|
| Public → Finance | Narrower. Only accounts can see it now. |
| Finance → Public | Wider. Everybody can see it now. |
| Within the same parent | No change. |
The second row is the one to be careful about. Dragging a file somewhere tidier can publish it to the whole business, and nothing warns you, because from the system’s point of view you are simply putting a file in a folder. Check what a folder is shared with before you move anything into it.
Unless the file carries its own rule
A file that has been shared directly keeps that rule wherever it goes. Its own rule wins over whatever it inherits, so moving it does not change who can see it.
That is useful for the handful of genuinely sensitive files — share the file itself, and it stays right however the folders are rearranged around it.
Renaming is safe
A rename changes the name and nothing else. It does not break:
- a public link already sent,
- its attachment to a record,
- its versions,
- who it is shared with.
So rename freely. The link people hold points at the file, not at its name.
Reorganising without causing an incident
- Decide the new structure by audience first.
- Make the new folders and share them before moving anything in.
- Move the narrowest things first, so a mistake goes the safe way.
- Check the widest folder afterwards — whatever is shared with everyone is where a mistake shows up.
A safe reorganisation, in order
The mistake is always the same: making the new folders and moving things in before setting the sharing, so files sit briefly in a folder that is shared with everyone.
- Make the new folders, empty.
- Share them, and check each one by reading the share list back.
- Move the most sensitive things first, while you are paying attention.
- Move the rest.
- Open the folder shared with everyone and read what is now in it.
- Delete the empty old folders.
Step five is the one that catches mistakes, and it takes thirty seconds.
What a move does not change
- Its versions and their history.
- Any public link already sent.
- Its attachment to a record.
- Its owner, and their access.
- Its tags.
Only inherited sharing changes — and only for files that have no rule of their own.
Where to go next
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