Teams, roles and sharing files with your team
The four roles, what each one can do, how to invite people, and when to share a file or use a Team folder.
This page explains the four roles in a workspace, what each one can do, when to share a single file and when to use a Team folder, and how to invite people and manage them.
1. The four roles
Owner: the account the workspace belongs to. The owner can't be removed from the workspace.
Admin: manages the workspace. Admins see every file, invite people and create Teams.
Member: does everyday work on their own files and on the items shared with them.
Viewer: read-only. Sees only what is shared with them, and can view and download it.
You choose the role when you invite someone. To change it later, open the person's row menu on Members in Settings and choose Change role.
2. What each role can do
Task | Owner | Admin | Member | Viewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
See files and folders | ✅ every item | ✅ every item | ❌ only what they created and what is shared with them | ❌ only what is shared with them |
Upload files and create folders | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
Rename, move or add a new version | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ files they can see | ❌ |
Download | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Move to Bin | ✅ any | ✅ any | ✅ only what they created | ❌ |
Empty the Bin or delete permanently | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
Send a file outside the workspace (file transfer) | ✅ any | ✅ any | ✅ only what they created | ❌ |
Share access with a teammate | ✅ any | ✅ any | ✅ only what they created | ❌ |
Invite people, change roles, suspend or remove | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
Create, edit and delete Teams | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ |
A few rules sit behind the table:
Sharing does not change a role. Share access gives someone visibility of an item, and what they can do with it follows their own role. A Viewer you share a file with can open and download it, and nothing more. A Member you share a file with can edit it, but can't move it to the Bin, because they didn't create it.
A Member can delete, transfer and share only what they created, even when someone else shared the item with them.
A suspended person has no access until you restore them.
Contacts are visible to all Members.
Files uploaded before the role rules were added have no recorded uploader. Owners and admins see them, and Members see them only after someone shares them.
3. Share access or a Team folder
Use Share access when one person needs one file or folder. Use a Team folder when a group works together all the time, such as Marketing, Finance or a client project.
Share access: one file or folder, one person
Share access lets you choose exactly who can see a file or folder. Sharing a folder includes everything inside it. You can remove a person's access at any time from the same window. The steps are in section 6.
Team folders: a shared space for a group
Team folders are available on Pro and Agency. The pricing page lists what each plan includes. A Team's access is set to Everyone or Members only. Owners and admins create Teams, and section 7 shows how.
You want to… | Use |
|---|---|
Let one person see one file or folder | Share access |
Give a whole group a shared space | A Team folder |
Send files to a client or anyone outside the workspace | |
Collect files from someone outside the workspace |
Inside a Team folder, the table in section 2 still applies to each person.
4. Invite people to your workspace
Only owners and admins can invite people. Pro and Agency include unlimited team members. Free is for one person, so on Free the Add team button opens the upgrade dialog instead of the invite form.
Open Members in Settings.
Click Add team, then click Invite a user.
Enter the Email address. If the person doesn't have a Tarkle account yet, also enter their Name. People who already have an account keep their own name.
Choose a Role: Admin, Member or Viewer.
Click Invite. Tarkle shows "Invitation sent."
The person receives an email with a link. They open it and sign in with the invited email address to accept. Pending invitations appear in the same list as your members. Use the row menu to choose Resend invite, which sends the email again, or Revoke invite, which stops the invitation working and frees its seat.
Join with an invite link
On Pro and Agency, you can also turn on the Invite link switch in Settings. It needs at least one verified team email domain. Someone with an email address on that domain can request a confirmation email and join through the link. Free email providers such as Gmail aren't accepted. The link expires 90 days after it is created, and you can turn it off at any time.
5. Change a role, suspend or remove someone
From the person's row menu on Members:
Change role changes their role.
Suspend blocks their access to the workspace right away. Choose Restore to give it back.
Remove takes them out of the workspace. A dialog asks you to choose who receives their files and content in Transfer their files and content to. Their Tarkle account is not deleted.
The owner can't be removed.
6. Share a file or folder with a teammate
Find the file or folder you want to share in Files.
Click the ⋮ menu and choose Share access.
In Share with, pick one or more people from your team.
Click Share. The people you picked can see it straight away.
Check Who has access. It lists the owner, the person who uploaded the item and everyone it is shared with. Pending invitations show the tag Invited. Click ✕ next to a person to remove their access.
A few notes:
If the person isn't on your team yet and you are an owner or admin, the Invite a user form opens with their email filled in. Once the invitation is sent, the item is shared with them, and they receive it when they join. Admins already see every file, so nothing is shared with an invited Admin.
Members can't send invitations. Ask an owner or admin to invite the person first.
Members can share only the items they created. Viewers can't share.
7. Create a Team folder
Only owners and admins can create a Team. Teams are made from people who are already in your workspace, so invite anyone new first (see section 4).
Open Team folders.
Start a new Team from the Team folders page.
Enter a Name for the Team, choose an icon and a colour, and add a Description if you want one.
Optionally, enter a Budget (see section 8).
Choose Access: Everyone, or Members only. With Members only, pick people in Team members.
Click Create team.
8. Storage budgets for Teams
Your plan sets the storage total for the workspace: 5 GB on Free and 3 TB on Pro. A Team budget sets part of that total aside for one Team.
In the Budget field of the Create team form, enter an amount and choose GB or TB. Leave the field empty for no limit. The field shows how much storage is still available to allocate. Budgets can't add up to more than that. If you enter more, Tarkle refuses with "That budget is more than the [amount] still available to allocate. Lower it, or leave it empty for no limit." The check runs when you create the Team.
9. Common questions
A Member says they can't see a file. What should I do? Members see their own files, the files shared with them, and the folders of the Teams they can see. Share the file with them (section 6), or move it into a Team folder they can see.
Why can't a Member delete a file I shared with them? Members can only delete what they created. Owners and admins can move any item to the Bin, and only they can empty it.
Can a Viewer download? Yes. A Viewer can view and download what is shared with them, and nothing else.
Does a Member's storage bar show the whole workspace? No. A Member's storage bar counts only the files that Member can see.
Is a transfer the same as Share access? No. Share access gives a teammate access inside the workspace. A file transfer gives you one link that you can send anywhere, to people outside the workspace.