Managing access in Asana projects

A range of access and privacy settings allows precise control over tasks, projects, and other work items in Asana. This means you can restrict access to work to only those who need it or grant suitable permissions when you want to share work more widely.

This article provides a concise overview of the different levels of access and permissions available and how you might implement these when sharing work across your team. For more details on privacy and visibility specifically, visit this dedicated article.

There are three different project visibility settings in Asana, detailed below.

Private to members

Projects with the privacy setting Private to members are accessible only to the current members of the project or those explicitly invited. Non-members must request access, which may be granted or denied by the project owner. Non-members will not be able to see the project name if it’s referenced in another task or message and will instead see the placeholder name Private link.

Tasks in a Private to members project are, by default, not visible to anyone outside the project unless shared explicitly at the task level.

Use this privacy setting for sensitive information, work that is not ready to be shared yet, or work that should only be shared with a specific group. For example, HR requests would usually be private and not accessible outside the HR team and the requester due to their possibly sensitive nature.

Team only

Projects with the privacy setting Team only are accessible by default to team members in which the project resides. The privacy setting of the team effectively determines who can access the project since it determines who can join the team.

Tasks in a Team only project are only visible to members of the project’s team by default. Remember that the team’s privacy effectively governs the visibility of the tasks. Use this privacy setting for work that is only relevant to the team the project lives in but is not highly sensitive. For example, a social media team’s feedback tracking doesn’t necessarily need to be shared with a finance team, so this feedback can be comfortably gathered in a Team only project. This can reduce noise and mitigate unhelpful search results for other teams.

Public to organization

Projects with the privacy setting Public to organization are accessible to every member of your Asana organization. Tasks in a Public to organization project are visible to the entire organization by default.

Use this privacy setting for the information you wish to share widely or that should be discoverable by anyone in your organization. Examples might include reference projects with helpful information for new hires, projects containing links to resources relevant to everyone, or a work requests intake project.

Permission levels in an Asana project

Individual user permissions within projects are another way of granting or restricting access to project information, which is separate from project privacy mentioned above. For a detailed overview of individual user project permissions, see the table displayed in the project permissions article.

Project admins have the most permissions within a project, can edit permissions for other project members, and can change project privacy.

Editors have many permissions, particularly at the task level, but are not entitled to change project privacy or permissions.

Commenters have few permissions but can communicate via task comments, attachments, and project messages.

Commenters assigned a task in the project have some additional permissions at the task level, such as the ability to complete the task, change the assignee, or change the due date.

You’ll find further details in our project permissions article.

Configuring the privacy settings of a project

To configure a project’s privacy settings, click the Share button in the top-right corner of the project.

Next, use the Privacy tab to decide who to share the project with. Choose from Private to members, Team only, or Shared with organization. 

Adjust the permissions for project members by clicking the drop-down arrow beside the person’s name and selecting an option from the list. Choose from Project admin, Editor, or Commenter.

When configuring access settings for your project, you’ll want to consider privacy and permissions. Privacy determines who can find and gain access to the project and its tasks. Permissions determine how much a person can modify the project and tasks. There’s an appropriate level for both, but it depends on the context of the work.

In terms of privacy, ask yourself two questions:

1. What kind of information is shared in this project?
2. Who should be able to see it?

If it contains sensitive information, a private project is best. You can always change this privacy setting later or invite more people into the project as it evolves.

Whoever needs access to the information, grant it to them by inviting them. You can add more members to the project later or edit the project privacy settings to share the work more widely at a suitable time.

Regarding permissions, consider how members are expected to collaborate within the project.

If the project serves as a knowledge base where you don’t want members to edit anything, grant them comment-only permissions. If you expect members to add and edit tasks regularly, grant them editor permissions. Project admins have full access to change settings, so limiting this role to only a few key stakeholders may be suitable.