In modern SharePoint environments, delivering secure, responsive, and context-aware forms is critical for enabling efficient digital workflows. Whether you're managing HR approvals, financial requests, or multi-step business processes, not every user should see or interact with every column.
That’s where column-level permissions come into play. And with Infowise Ultimate Forms for modern SharePoint, you can apply these controls with precision and ease, all from within your browser.
Thanks to Ultimate Forms’ no-code interface and modern Form Designer, you can define how individual columns behave. Whether they should be editable, visible, or hidden. The behavior derives from the current user, their role, or specific conditions in the form. And to make the process even more efficient, Infowise allows you to group permission logic using containers, accordions and tabs. So you don’t have to set rules column by column.
This article walks you through the best way to implement column-level permissions in modern SharePoint forms using container controls as permission groups - a best practice that ensures maintainability, scalability, and a clean user experience.
Why Column-Level Permissions Are Essential in SharePoint Modern Forms
Modern SharePoint forms are often used for multi-role, multi-stage processes involving employees, managers, finance, HR, IT, and others. A well-designed form must ensure that each user only sees or edits the columns that apply to their role or step in the workflow.
Common scenarios include:
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Employees fill out request forms, but only managers see approval and budget columns.
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HR users access sensitive information that should be hidden from general staff.
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Columns become visible only after certain conditions are met, such as a change in status.
Infowise Ultimate Forms makes this not only possible - but simple. You can configure columns to behave dynamically using real-time conditions, ensuring that your form is always personalized, secure, and relevant to the user interacting with it.
The Core Permission States
When configuring column permissions in modern Infowise forms, each column can be assigned one of the following access modes:
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Write – The column is fully editable by the user.
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Read – The column is visible but cannot be modified.
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Deny (Hidden) – The column is completely hidden from the user interface.
These permissions can be applied conditionally based on:
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SharePoint group or user identity
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Column values (e.g., Status = "Pending")
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Whether the form is new or being edited
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Any combination of rules using Ultimate Forms’ dynamic logic engine
The Challenge of Scaling: Setting Permissions on Many Columns
In a modern form, especially one supporting multiple business roles or workflow stages, it's not uncommon to have 20–30 or more columns that need conditional access.
For example, if several columns are only relevant for Finance, you’d have to apply the same permission logic to each of them - manually. This quickly becomes inefficient and error-prone, especially when the same logic applies to multiple columns across your form.
The Solution? Use Containers to Group Permission Logic.
Infowise Ultimate Forms lets you group columns into containers in modern forms. These container controls include:
- Containers - designed to enhance the layout of the form. Containers control how the controls inside are layed out on the form. Containers can include columns, images, other nested containers and so on. Containers may or may not have a visual representations
- Tabs - displayed side-by-side, tabs help minimize the amount of information presented to the user at the same time, simplifying the data entry experience. Tabs are also essential in implementing multi-stage wizards.
- Accordions - similar to tabs, accordions stack their section one on top of the other.
While tabs and accordions are often used to enhance layout and navigation, they also serve a powerful backend purpose: permission grouping.
As mentioned, containers by default do not have any visual representation of their own, meaning they can group columns for permission control without affecting the visual structure of your form.
How to Use Containers for Column-Level Permissions in Modern Forms
Here’s a step-by-step guide for applying this best practice in the Infowise modern form interface.
1. Open the Form Designer for Modern UI
From your SharePoint list or library, launch the Ultimate Forms. Once inside, click to open Form Designer. This gives you a visual drag-and-drop interface for building and configuring your form.
2. Create a New Container
Drag a new container from the control gallery on the left. By default, it will have no effect on your form. You can however change the default layout and theme of the container. For example, you can add borders or shadow or display columns inside of it side-by-side.
3. Assign Columns to the Container
Drag the relevant columns into the container. All columns placed within the same container will inherit the container's permission settings, so group them according to shared access needs.
Examples:
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All budget-related columns go into one container
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Approval-related columns go into another container
Tip: tabs and accordions include their own containers. In fact each tab is a special kind of container. If you plan to assign titles to your containers, it might make sense to implement them as tabs.
4. Configure Container Permissions
Ensure that the container itself is selected. Selected controls will appear with a special border. Additionally, you can navigate the control hierarchy in the breadcrumbs row at the bottom of the screen.
In the Permissions section add a new permission rule:
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Set the desired access level: Write, Read, or Deny
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Add rules or conditions based on:
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Current user or group. You can even apply the permission to a user indirectly, by the means of a lookup column value. The selected lookup value will then contain the required user/group in a different column. For instance, a list of departments might contain a Manager column that you will indirectly reference in your permission rule.
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Form mode (New/Edit/Display)
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Conditions based on column values, calculations and function results
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6. Publish
Click Publish to make your form available to users. When users open the form, permissions will be evaluated in real time, and they will only see the columns they are allowed to access - no extra coding or custom scripting required.
Benefits of Using Containers for Permission Management
✔ Efficient Configuration: Set rules once per group, not per column
✔ Clean Form Design: No unnecessary tabs cluttering the layout
✔ Easier Maintenance: Update one rule for all related columns
✔ Improved Accuracy: Fewer chances of inconsistent permissions
✔ Seamless UX: Users see only what's relevant, with no awareness of how it's structured behind the scenes
Use Cases in Modern Business Forms
HR Forms
An onboarding form includes general info columns (name, department, role) and private HR columns (salary, contract type). HR columns are grouped into a tab and restricted to the HR team.
Finance Requests
Expense request forms include columns for justification, total cost, project code, and approval. The finance-related columns are placed in a tab accessible only to Finance and Managers.
Workflow-Driven Forms
When a form moves from one stage to another (e.g., from “Draft” to “Submitted”), the tab-based permission logic ensures that only columns relevant to the current stage are editable, while earlier columns are locked or hidden.
Built for Modern SharePoint and Microsoft 365
All features described here are fully supported in modern SharePoint sites, including those hosted in Microsoft 365. The modern form designer in Infowise Ultimate Forms provides a responsive, fast-loading, mobile-friendly interface, with no need for legacy web parts or classic settings.
Your form will look and behave consistently across all devices - desktop, tablet, and mobile - and permissions are evaluated dynamically in real time.
No Code, All Power
The beauty of Infowise Ultimate Forms is that you don’t need any development experience to apply these advanced controls. Everything is configured through a visual interface with built-in validation, preview, and logic testing.
This allows power users, site owners, HR managers, and business analysts to create secure, responsive forms without relying on developers or IT support.
Try It Yourself
Ready to streamline column-level permissions in modern SharePoint forms?
🧩 Use containers or tabs for smart permission grouping
✅ Create secure and intuitive forms without code
🕒 Save time and reduce errors in form management
