Restrict content to logged in readers

Last Modified on 09/26/2025 3:26 pm EDT

You can restrict some content so that it is only visible to readers belonging to specific reader groups. To do so, create a reader group or groups, add readers to those groups, and then restrict the category or individual articles to that group. This page walks through how to restrict categories and articles to reader groups. Refer to Reader Groups overview if you're new to reader groups.

How restrictions work

Reader group restrictions can be set at the category and article level:

Category restrictions

Restrictions set in the Restrict Viewing to Reader Groups section are automatically inherited by all subcategories and articles in the category. Basically, this locks down all content in the category to the reader groups you select, without you having to do any additional work in the individual articles or subcategories!

A few things to keep in mind if you set reader group restrictions at the category level:

Groups inherited from a category are identified in the Inherited Reader Groups section of the editor.
By default, articles and subcategories are set to Use Inherited Only, which means they'll only use the groups they've inherited from the category.
You can add additional groups to individual subcategories and articles by using the Add More Restrictions checkboxes within those pages.

Refer to Content with multiple reader groups for more information about the expected behavior when you select multiple groups in these sections.

Article restrictions

If an article is within a category that has no reader group restrictions, you can use the article's Restrict Viewing to Reader Groups section to show it only to specific groups. This approach allows you to restrict only specific articles within the category to reader groups.

If an article has inherited restrictions from its category, by default it is set to Use Inherited Only. But you may Add More Restrictions to require additional group membership to view the article. Add More Restrictions selections don't impact other articles or categories in any way.

Refer to Content with multiple reader groups for more information about the expected behavior when you select multiple groups in these sections.

Restrict categories to reader groups

Before you begin, make sure you have reader groups set up in your knowledge base. Refer to Create a reader group for detailed instructions. Once your reader groups exist:

Create a new category or edit an existing one.
If the category has None selected in the Inherited Reader Groups section of the editor, use the checkboxes under Restrict Viewing to Reader Groups in the righthand column to set which groups can see this content.
If the category has groups listed in the Inherited Reader Groups section of the editor, use the checkboxes to Add More Restrictions to the the content. Readers will have to belong to at least one of these additional groups AND at least one of the inherited groups (possibly more, depending on your knowledge base reader logic; refer to Content with multiple reader groups for more info).
Be sure to Save your changes.
Once you're done, consider following the steps in Test reader group access to make sure the correct groups can access the article.

Restrict article access to reader groups

The information below varies based on whether you're using our 2026 new editor or old editor.

To figure out which instructions to follow:

Open any article for editing.
If the lefthand navigation is collapsed and there's a link near the top of the page to Switch to old editor, follow the New editor documentation.
If the lefthand navigation is expanded and the top of the editor and the righthand column have a heavier grey background, follow the Old editor documentation.

Here are side-by-side examples of the new editor and the old editor:

Sample New editor

Sample Old editor

Try out the new editor
We'd love your feedback on the new editor. To switch to the new editor, open any article for editing and select the Switch to new editor link at the top of the editor.

Restrict article access to reader groups in new article editor

Before you begin, make sure you have reader groups set up in your knowledge base. Refer to Create a reader group for detailed instructions. Once your reader groups exist, follow these steps to restrict article access to reader groups in the new article editor:

Open the article for editing.
Select any of the text in the Permissions section next to Read access:

Select any of the text next to Read access to edit reader groups
The Read access modal opens.
If the Read access section originally read All readers (as in the screenshot above), this article has no inherited restrictions. Select Limited to specific reader groups in the modal, then use the checkboxes to add or remove reader groups who should be able to view this content.
If the Read access section originally read Limited to specific reader groups and the Read access modal options include All readers, this article has already been restricted to one or more reader groups. Use the checkboxes to add and remove reader groups who should be able to view this content:

Sample Read access modal with Limited to specific reader groups option
If the Read access section originally read Limited to specific reader groups and the Read access modal options include All category reader groups, this article is inheriting reader group restrictions from its category. This is a slightly more complicated setup:

Sample Read access modal with All category reader groups option
1. To use all the reader groups assigned to the category, select All category reader groups.
2. To limit this article to viewing by a subset of the category's reader groups, select Limited to specific category reader groups, then check the boxes next to the reader groups you want to restrict viewing to.
3. If the reader groups you want to display this article to don't appear in the list, you'll need to edit the category this article's within to add those reader groups. Refer to How inherited reader groups work for a more detailed explanation of how inherited reader groups work.
If the Read access section originally read Limited to specific reader groups and the Read access modal has the option for Limited to specific category reader groups selected, this article has already been restricted to one or more reader groups it inherited from its category.
1. Use the checkboxes to add and remove reader groups who should be able to view this content.
2. If you want to add a reader group that doesn't appear in this list, you'll need to update the category to add that reader group to its Read access so that this article inherits that reader group. (If you add a new reader group to a category, you may want to review the other articles in that category to confirm which groups can access those.)
Be sure to Save your changes.
Once you're done, consider following the steps in Test reader group access to make sure the correct groups can access the article.

Restrict article access to reader groups in old article editor

Open the article for editing.
If the article has None selected in the Inherited Reader Groups section of the editor, use the checkboxes under Restrict Viewing to Reader Groups in the righthand column to set which groups can see this content.
If the article has groups listed in the Inherited Reader Groups section of the editor, you'll need to decide whether you want to use those inherited reader groups only or add more restrictions.
1. To use the inherited reader groups only, you shouldn't need to make any other selections.
2. To add more reader groups beyond the inherited groups to this article, use the checkboxes to Add More Restrictions to the article. Readers will have to belong to at least one of these additional groups AND at least one of the inherited groups (possibly more, depending on your knowledge base reader logic; refer to Content with multiple reader groups for more info).
Be sure to Save your changes.
Once you're done, consider following the steps in Test reader group access to make sure the correct groups can access the article.

Topic articles may require extra work
If you're using inherited reader groups and topic articles, you may need to specifically check the boxes in the Add More Restrictions section to have topic articles display in PDFs. Refer to Reuse an article within another article for more information.

Test your settings

If this is your first time using reader groups or you're not entirely sure you set things up properly, you can always test to see what a reader in a given group will be able to access. Refer to Test reader group access for more detailed instructions.

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