When users are given access to SharePoint Online they are typically given the ‘edit’ permission. The ‘edit’ permission allows users to not only create and edit documents but also to delete them. In some cases it may not be appropriate to do this. Luckily, with SharePoint you can easily create a new permission levels that is exactly like the edit permission, just without the ability to delete. Here’s how to do that.

Firstly, visit the location where you wish to create the new permission and select the COG icon in the top right hand corner of the screen.

From the menu that appears select Site settings. If you don’t see this option then you most likely don’t have the appropriate permissions to make these changes.

In the Site Settings page under the Users and Permissions section in the top left, select Site Permissions.

From the menu that appears across the top of the page select Permission Levels on the right.

You should now see a list of all the different existing permission levels available as shown above.

You could select the Add a Permission Level option from the menu across the top but that would require you customising a new permission from scratch. It is much easier to copy and then modify an existing permission to the level that you desire.

Since the Edit permission is the closest permissions level to the one we desire, select that to display its current settings as shown above.

If you now scroll to the bottom of this screen you will find an option to Copy Permission Level, which you should select.

This will now create a new permission level for you but copy over all the existing permissions as shown above. Enter a new name a description for this permission. In this case I will call call it Edit no Delete.

Make the desired changes to the permissions listed by simply checking or unchecking the individual permission. in this case I have unchecked the options to Delete Items and Delete Versions as shown above.

Scroll to the bottom of the page and Create the new settings.

You should now see the new permission level displayed in the permissions list as shown above, here Edit no Delete. If you need to edit this further, simply select the permission name.

Now, when you visit a location and want to set the permissions you will see your custom permission level as shown above that you can select and apply.

SharePoint gives you the ability to create as many custom permission levels as you desire. The trick is that it is easier to copy and modify an existing permission, rather than create a new from scratch. This article has shown you how to do just that.