MS Planner / Teams: Need ability to share with view-only access (July 2025)

Question

MS Planner / Teams: Need ability to share with view-only access (July 2025)

Andrew L. Yoder 25

In our business we have regular need to share read/view only access to a planner with employees who need to see status updates on the plan but should not be able to edit the plan.

I cannot find the option to do this, and its pretty important. Can you provide instructions on how can allow users to view a planner without becoming part of the planner group itself or being able to edit it?

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Answer 1

Hi @Andrew L. Yoder,

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Support. I understand your need to share Microsoft Planner boards with employees in a view-only capacity, allowing them to monitor progress without being able to make changes. Currently, Microsoft Planner does not support native view-only permissions for users outside the associated Microsoft 365 Group.

However, there are a few workarounds you can consider depending on your needs:

1. Make the Planner Public Within Your Organization

If your Planner board is part of a Microsoft 365 Group, you can:

Set the group to public.
Share the Planner link with users in your organization.

This allows them to view the plan without being able to edit it, but only if they don’t join the group. Once they join, they gain edit permissions

This method only works within your organization and doesn't prevent users from joining the group unless you manage group membership tightly.

2. Use Microsoft Project for the Web

Microsoft is actively developing Project for the Web, which offers more granular permission controls:

You can assign read-only roles.
It integrates with Teams and Planner-like interfaces.
Requires Project Plan 1 or 3 licenses

This is a better option if you need strict view-only access and are willing to use a more advanced tool.

3. Export Planner Data to SharePoint or Excel

You can:

Export Planner tasks to Excel or Power BI.
Publish the file or dashboard to SharePoint or Teams with view-only permissions.

This gives users visibility into task status without giving them access to the Planner board itself.

Hopefully, this information can help you solve this issue. Please know that we truly appreciate your patience and understanding as we strive to support you. If you need any further help or clarification, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Thank you very much for your understanding and cooperation.

Best regards,

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Andrew L. Yoder 25 Reputation points

2025-07-29T23:26:22.2966667+00:00

Yes helpful-ish. It does feel like a lot of workaround steps rather than a simple option to choose whether plan viewer can read-only or edit. The the course of googling I've seen quite a lot of requests and support threads asking for this basic functionality. It doesn't like it may not have been MS's intended workflow, but my hope is that future updates will accommodate this frequent request for a more simple option allow people to view a plan through teams as a read-only.
Bayer, Stefan 0 Reputation points

2025-08-28T11:16:49.41+00:00

Thanks for clarifying that, now I don't need to look any further. But it's a shame that you can't invite users to view and prevent accidental changes at the same time. That makes it useless for efficient collaboration.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Hani-N 2,080 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi @Andrew L. Yoder,

As other users will also search information in this community, kindly mark it as an answer, your valuable vote will definitely also help other users who have similar queries easily to find the correct channel and useful information more quickly.   User's image I appreciate your kind words. 

Have a nice day and stay healthy 

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Answer 4

Hi @Andrew L. Yoder,

Just checking in to see if there are any updates from your side. We'd really appreciate hearing how things are progressing!

If you've found a solution or helpful information, please consider marking it as an answer. This helps other community members with similar questions find the right guidance more easily.

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Thanks again for your engagement and kind words. Wishing you a great day and continued good health!

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MS Planner / Teams: Need ability to share with view-only access (July 2025)

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