Visibility and permissions

You can control who sees each item in a navigation menu. Every item has an allow list and a block list, both built from Confluence groups.

Use them to give each team the navigation that's relevant to them, without building a separate menu for every team.

Permissions

You need Confluence administrator permissions to change visibility. You set it on each item, in the item's edit dialog. See Configure navigation menus.

How allow and block lists work

Allow list names the groups that can see the item. It's required. By default it's set to any logged-in user, which shows the item to everyone.

Block list names groups that can't see the item. It's optional, and empty by default.

Both lists take Confluence groups. You can't allow or block an individual user; add them to a group instead.

Block list wins

If someone is in a group on the allow list and a group on the block list, they don't see the item. The block list always takes priority.

This is worth remembering when you use both. Allowing engineering and blocking contractors means an engineering contractor sees nothing.

What a hidden item looks like

Nothing. An item a user isn't allowed to see doesn't appear in their navigation at all: no grayed-out entry, no message. It's hidden everywhere the menu appears.

Users can hide sidebar items themselves

This applies to menus that appear in the sidebar. See Sidebar Navigation.

Confluence lets each user customize their own sidebar, and those choices apply to your navigation items too. An item you've published can still end up hidden, if a user hides it.

The most recent change wins.

You can't force an item to stay visible for someone who has hidden it. Treat sidebar visibility as a default you set, not a rule you enforce.