# Who can see what in the knowledge base

Every new folder starts private. Share it with everyone, a location, a role or one person, and choose whether they can view or edit. What admins, managers and employees see.

For: Admins, Managers · On: Web, iOS, Android · [Help Center](https://www.mays.app/help) › [Knowledge & training](https://www.mays.app/help/knowledge-training) · Last updated October 12, 2026 · Mays Team

Every new folder starts private. Share it with everyone, a location, a role or one person, and choose whether they can view it or edit it. Here's what each role sees.

Sharing is done on the web, under **Knowledge Base**. The apps show each person what's been shared with them.

## Share a folder

1. Go to **Knowledge Base**.
2. Right-click the folder, or hover over it and click **⋮**, then **Share…**. When you create a new top-level folder, the **Share** window opens by itself.
3. In the first list, choose who:
   - **Everyone in org**: the whole company (admins only).
   - **A location**: everyone assigned to that location.
   - **A role**: everyone with that role (admins only). **Admins**, **Managers** and **Employees** are the built-in roles; your own roles are listed after them.
   - **A specific person**.
4. Choose **Can view** or **Can edit**.
5. Click **Share**. You'll see *Shared.*, and the share appears under **People with access**.

Share with more people by repeating steps 3 to 5. A folder can have as many shares as you like.

![The Share window for the Manager resources folder: A role and Managers picked, Can view, the Share button, and under People with access, All managers — Can view, added by Ava Admin](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/help__knowledge-sharing-and-visibility__01-share-with-a-role.0efb358dfa.png)

**Articles and documents** can be shared on their own in the same way (**⋮ → Share…** on the article or document), for example to show one recipe to a new cook. They can't be hidden from someone who can see their folder.

## What sharing a folder covers

- Everything inside the folder: its articles, its documents and the folders inside it, now and later.
- A folder you create inside a shared folder is shared the same way. The new-folder box says *Inherits this folder's access*.
- A new top-level folder is private until you share it. The box says *Starts private — share it next*.

## Take access away

Open **Share…** again and click the bin next to the share under **People with access**. It's removed straight away (*Access removed.*). An **Everyone in org** or role share can only be removed by an admin or by the person who added it. To change **Can view** to **Can edit**, share again with the same person, location or role and pick the new permission.

## Who sees what

| Who | What they see | What they can do |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Admins** | Everything in the knowledge base. | Create, edit, move and delete anything. Share with anyone, including **Everyone in org** and a role. |
| **Managers** | Folders they created, and whatever is shared with them, their location or their role. | Create folders, articles and documents. Share what they can edit with **A location** (one of theirs) or **A specific person** (from their locations). |
| **Employees** | Whatever is shared with them, their location or their role, in the app. | Read only. |

![The Share window as a manager sees it for the South closing notes folder: only A location and A specific person to choose from, South picked, Can view, and the note that only you and your admins can see it so far](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/help__knowledge-sharing-and-visibility__02-share-as-a-manager.d79dd7d449.png)

A location share reaches everyone assigned to that location, whatever their role. Someone who works at two locations sees what's shared with either of them.

**Can edit** lets a manager rename, move, share and delete that item, and add articles, documents and folders inside a shared folder. It applies to the item you shared: an edit share on a folder doesn't let them change articles someone else wrote inside it. Employees can't edit anything, because the knowledge base is read-only in the apps.

## In the app

The **Knowledge** tab (**KB** on Android) lists the folders the person can see. Search in the app only finds what they can see, too.

![The Knowledge Base tab in the iPhone app for Sam, a manager at South: Opening & Closing, Food Safety, Recipes & Prep, Manager resources (shared with Managers) and South closing notes](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/help__knowledge-sharing-and-visibility__03-knowledge-tab-manager.97f56e2ea9.png)

## Good to know

- **Pending review (AI uploads)** holds what ChatGPT or Claude added to the knowledge base until an admin publishes it. Only admins see it. Keep it unshared: while it has a share or isn't private, AI apps can't add anything. See [Adding from ChatGPT or Claude](https://www.mays.app/help/knowledge-training/knowledge-base-basics#adding-from-chatgpt-or-claude).
- **The Private label stays on.** On the web, every folder made since sharing arrived shows **Private**, even after you share it. Check **People with access** in the **Share** window to see who really has it.
- **An empty People with access list** doesn't always mean nobody else can see it: a folder inside a shared folder is covered by the outer folder's share, which is only listed there.
- **Managers only on older folders.** Folders from before sharing arrived may have **Managers only** and **Make visible to all** in the admin's **⋮** menu. The switch applies straight away, in the app and in the AI Assistant's answers. An older folder tied to a location only reaches people at that location. New folders don't have the switch: share them with **A role → Managers**.
- **Deleting a folder** deletes everything in it: the folders inside it and all their articles and documents, including ones other people added. The AI Assistant stops answering from them. There's no trash.
- **The AI Assistant follows sharing.** It answers each person from what's shared with them, and it follows the **Managers only** switch and moves to another folder straight away. See [AI answers from your knowledge base](https://www.mays.app/help/knowledge-training/ai-answers-from-your-knowledge-base).
- **Who manages the knowledge base** is set by the **Knowledge Base** permissions on each role. See [Roles and permissions](https://www.mays.app/help/team-roles/roles-and-permissions).

## Related articles

- Knowledge & training: [Your knowledge base](https://www.mays.app/help/knowledge-training/knowledge-base-basics) — Keep your SOPs, recipes and policies in one place. Admins and managers build folders of articles and documents on the web; the whole team reads and searches them in the app.
- Knowledge & training: [AI answers from your knowledge base](https://www.mays.app/help/knowledge-training/ai-answers-from-your-knowledge-base) — The AI Assistant in the app's Chat tab answers your team's questions from your knowledge base. How articles and documents get ready for it, who sees which answers, and what it costs.
- Knowledge & training: [Importing from Dropbox or Google Drive](https://www.mays.app/help/knowledge-training/import-from-dropbox-or-google-drive) — Connect your company's Dropbox or Google Drive once, then copy SOPs, PDFs and Google Docs into a knowledge base folder. Each import is a one-time copy; later changes don't sync.
- Team & roles: [Roles and permissions](https://www.mays.app/help/team-roles/roles-and-permissions) — What the built-in Admin, Manager and Employee roles can do, how location access works, and how to build a custom role from individual permissions.
- Team & roles: [Location access for managers and multi-location staff](https://www.mays.app/help/team-roles/location-access-for-managers) — Everyone except admins sees only the locations they're assigned to. How that works for managers and multi-location staff, and how to switch location on the web and in the app.

## Still need help?

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Canonical: https://www.mays.app/help/knowledge-training/knowledge-sharing-and-visibility