When you import content into Notion from another tool or from a backup file, you may notice that all sharing permission settings are lost. Pages that were previously shared with specific team members or groups become private by default after import. This happens because Notion treats imported content as brand new pages that have no connection to the original workspace structure. This article explains the technical reason why permission data is discarded during import and what you can do to restore access after importing.
Key Takeaways: Why Imported Pages Lose Their Sharing Permissions
- Import API strips all metadata except content and properties: Notion’s import pipeline deliberately removes permission objects to prevent security conflicts.
- Permissions are tied to user accounts and workspace roles: Imported data has no record of which users existed at the time of export, so all permissions are reset.
- Manual re-sharing is the only reliable fix: After import, use the Share button on each page to re-add members or groups.
Why Notion Discards Sharing Permissions During Import
Notion’s import system is designed to accept only the structural content of a page: text, images, databases, and file attachments. Permission settings are separate objects stored in Notion’s permission engine, which maps each page to user IDs and group IDs. When you import a file, Notion cannot validate or map the original user IDs from the source workspace to the destination workspace. The source workspace might have had users who do not exist in the new workspace, or the IDs may have changed. To avoid granting access to the wrong people or leaving pages accessible to deleted users, Notion simply discards all permission data.
Another factor is the format of the imported file. Common export formats like HTML, Markdown, CSV, and Notion’s own .zip archive do not include a standardized permissions section. Even if the export tool includes permission metadata in a proprietary format, Notion’s import parser ignores it. The import pipeline focuses on content fidelity — making sure text, links, and media appear correctly — and does not attempt to restore access controls.
Permission Objects Are Workspace-Specific
Every Notion workspace has its own set of user IDs and group IDs. When a page is shared in the original workspace, Notion stores a list of those IDs with the page. If you export that page and import it into a different workspace, the IDs no longer match. Notion cannot guess which users in the new workspace should get access. Even if the same email addresses exist in both workspaces, the internal user IDs are different, so the permission mapping breaks.
Import Does Not Trigger Permission Inheritance
In Notion, pages can inherit sharing permissions from a parent page or a teamspace. When you import a page, it is created as a top-level private page in your workspace. It does not inherit any permissions from the parent page you dragged it into. The import process creates the page as an independent object with no parent-child permission relationship. You must manually set permissions after the import completes.
Steps to Restore Sharing Permissions After Import
After importing content, you need to re-share each page with the appropriate people or groups. Follow these steps to restore access.
- Open the imported page
Navigate to the page you just imported in your Notion workspace. Click its name in the sidebar or use Ctrl+P and search for the page title. - Click the Share button
In the top-right corner of the page, click the Share button. It looks like a person icon with a plus sign. A dropdown panel opens showing current sharing settings. - Add people or groups
In the Share panel, type the name or email of a person or group in the Add people or groups field. Select the correct entry from the dropdown. Choose the permission level: Can view, Can edit, or Can comment. - Click Invite
After selecting the person and permission level, click the Invite button. The page now appears in that person’s sidebar with the appropriate access. - Repeat for each page
If you imported multiple pages, repeat steps 1 through 4 for each page. You can also select multiple pages in the sidebar by holding Ctrl and clicking each page, then clicking Share to add people to all selected pages at once.
Using a Teamspace to Automate Permissions
If you need to share many imported pages with the same group of people, move the pages into a teamspace. Teamspaces have their own sharing settings that apply to all pages inside them. Create a teamspace, set its permissions to allow the desired members to view or edit, then drag the imported pages into that teamspace. The pages inherit the teamspace permissions and you do not need to share each page individually.
If Notion Import Still Lacks the Permissions You Expected
Exported File Format Lacks Permission Data
Some third-party export tools claim to preserve sharing permissions, but Notion’s import system does not read that data. The only way to preserve permissions is to export and import within the same Notion workspace using the Duplicate feature. Duplicating a page within the same workspace keeps the original permissions intact because the user IDs remain the same. Cross-workspace imports always reset permissions.
Pages Appear as Private After Import
This is expected behavior. Every imported page starts as a private page visible only to you. Check the Share panel to confirm that no other users have access. If you see the page listed as Shared with the entire workspace, that means the page was imported into a teamspace or the workspace root, which automatically shares it with all workspace members. Move the page out of the teamspace if you want it private.
Permission Inheritance Does Not Apply Automatically
If you drag an imported page into an existing parent page that has its own sharing settings, the imported page does not automatically inherit those settings. You must either change the imported page’s sharing to Inherit from parent or manually add users. To set inheritance, open the Share panel, click the dropdown next to the page name, and select Inherit from parent.
Notion Import Methods and Their Permission Behavior Compared
| Import Method | Permissions Preserved | What Gets Imported |
|---|---|---|
| Notion .zip export/import within same workspace | Yes | Content, properties, comments, and permissions |
| Notion .zip export/import to a different workspace | No | Content and properties only |
| HTML or Markdown import | No | Text and images only |
| CSV import into a database | No | Database rows and column values only |
| Third-party tool export/import | No | Varies; usually content and some properties |
The only scenario where permissions survive is when you duplicate a page within the same workspace. Any import that crosses workspace boundaries or uses a non-Notion file format will reset all sharing permissions to private.
You now know that Notion discards permission settings during import because user IDs cannot be mapped between workspaces and because import file formats do not support permission metadata. To restore access, use the Share button on each page or move pages into a teamspace for group-level permissions. For future imports, consider duplicating pages within the same workspace if you need to keep existing sharing settings. If you frequently import content, create a dedicated teamspace with preset permissions and move all imported pages there immediately after import.