Sometimes you might come across a doc but you don't have the necessary level of access. For instance, you might have view-only access but you want edit access, or you might not have access at all. This article will cover some options for requesting the appropriate level of access.
Within this article, you'll find...
Request access to a doc
If you've come across a doc but see the following message (You need permission to access this doc), this means that you don't have any level of access to the doc.
To request access, simply click the Request access button. This will send a message to the doc owner, and they can choose whether to grant you access. Depending on the doc owner's actions, you may receive a notification informing you that you've been granted access.
A few things to note:
Ensure you are signed in with the correct account. If you have multiple Coda accounts, you might have access to the doc from one account but not from the other.
If you're part of an organization that uses Google Groups, you may have access to the doc by virtue of your Google Group membership. Click the Check group access button and follow the prompts to check.
Request edit access
Maybe you have view-only or comment-only access to a doc, but you would like to have edit access so you can make changes to the doc. In that case, you may be able to request edit access right from the doc.
Look for a Request edit access button in the upper right corner of the doc. Click this button to send the doc owner an edit request. The doc owner will receive a notification, and can choose whether to grant you edit access. Depending on the doc maker's actions, you may or may not receive a notification once you're granted access.
ℹ️ If you don't see the Request access button in the doc, this is likely because the doc owner has disabled the ability for viewers to request edit access.
Doc owners have the option to disable (or enable) this "request edit access" button. They can modify this setting by opening the Share menu in their doc, clicking the controls icon in the upper right corner to open advanced settings, and then toggling on/off the Allow viewers to request edit access setting.
If you know the doc owner or anyone with edit access to the doc, you can ask them about modifying this setting so you can get access.
FAQs
How do I get edit access if I don't see the "Request edit access" button in the doc?
How do I get edit access if I don't see the "Request edit access" button in the doc?
If you don't see the Request access button in the doc, this is likely because the doc owner has disabled the ability for viewers to request edit access. Check out the section above to learn more about this.
We suggest either reaching out to the doc owner directly, reaching out to anyone you know has edit access to the doc, or contacting your IT team for further assistance.
How do I get access to a doc owned by someone who left my company?
How do I get access to a doc owned by someone who left my company?
When a user leaves your organization, your IT admin will typically suspend or delete the user's account in your identity provider dashboard. As part of that workflow, the admin can usually choose to transfer data and permissions for the departing user to another user in your organization; this includes permission for access to Coda docs.
If your organization is on an Enterprise plan, then one of your org admins can change doc ownership from the Admin Settings panel.
If you are not on an Enterprise plan, we suggest reaching out to your IT department. They should be able to follow the steps outlined here to transfer doc ownership as needed.
If none of the above steps work for you, feel free to contact Coda Support.