How to see all restricted pages in a Confluence space, and where each restriction comes from

An access review, a leaver or a compliance question needs one answer: which pages in this space are restricted, who is on them, and is the restriction on the page itself or inherited. This guide covers the list Confluence gives space admins, how to trace a restriction up the page tree, what the REST API leaves out, and a read-only report.

The short answer

Space admins have a list of restricted pages. Atlassian's article Resolve access issues for Confluence Cloud space pages (updated 29 July 2026) says to open space settings, look for Permissions (or Manage pages), and select Restricted pages. Each page in it has a padlock that leads to that page's restrictions. Menu labels differ between versions, so look for the Restricted pages entry in your own space settings.

What that list may not tell you

The articles we read describe the list as the way to find restricted pages and remove restrictions one padlock at a time. They do not say whether a page that is restricted only because its parent is restricted appears in it. Test that in a space where you know a child sits under a restricted parent. If it is missing, the list shows where restrictions were set, not everything people are blocked from.

Tracing where a restriction comes from

Atlassian's page restrictions article says view restrictions are inherited by everything nested under a page, while edit restrictions are not. A child without its own restriction shows "Restricted by a parent". To follow it up, Troubleshoot access problems to content gives these steps:

Open the Share window on the page and select the parent in the statement "Anyone on this parent". It takes you to the immediate parent causing the restriction.
Open Share on that parent and look at who is listed.
If the parent is itself restricted by its parent, repeat. Atlassian notes there may be several parents with view restrictions.

On the Premium plan, the same article points to Inspect permissions in the Share window's More options menu. It shows at which level one person is denied access: parent content, space or app. That answers a question about one person on one page, not about a whole space.

Why a script needs more than one call per page

Atlassian's suggestion CONFCLOUD-71108, "Ability to list inherited page restrictions via REST API", says that when you read a page's restrictions through the REST API, inherited ones are not listed; a page with no direct restriction returns none. It had 65 votes and was in "Gathering Interest" on 23 October 2026. A script that wants the full picture has to walk each page's ancestors and combine their restrictions.

A question by group has no native answer either. CONFCLOUD-74405, "List which spaces and (restricted) pages a group can access", says administrators have no way to list them, and names Atlassian Support as the workaround.

When the manual check is enough

For a small space, a single page someone cannot open, or a one-off look before a leaver's last day, the Restricted pages list plus the "Anyone on this parent" trail is quick and needs nothing else. It stops being practical when the review repeats every quarter, the space has hundreds of pages, or an auditor asks for the result as a file.

Option: the audit report in Bulk Page Restrictions for Confluence

Disclosure. Atesen Software, which publishes this guide, makes Bulk Page Restrictions for Confluence, an app on the Atlassian Marketplace. The native routes above work without it. The app's main job is changing restrictions across a page tree, covered in our guide to bulk changes; its audit report only reads.

What it lists. It scans a space and lists every page that has a view or edit restriction, or inherits a view restriction from a page above it, with the people and groups on each.
Read-only. The report changes nothing, and per the app's documentation it works even when the licence is not active. It downloads as CSV for an access review.
Where to find it. In space settings under Integrations for space admins, or in Confluence administration.

Good to know. It runs with your own permissions, and Confluence hides pages restricted from you from apps too. Only pages you can see are included, so run it as someone who can see the pages you care about and compare the page count with what you expect. It covers restrictions only. It is for Confluence Cloud, and the app is paid through Atlassian; the Pricing tab of the listing shows the current plans.

See Bulk Page Restrictions on the Atlassian Marketplace

Which route fits

One page someone cannot open: Share, then follow "Anyone on this parent".
A small space, once: the Restricted pages list, checked against a page you know is inherited.
A recurring access review with a file for the auditor: a report that includes inherited view restrictions.
Every space a group can reach: not available natively today; Atlassian Support is the route its ticket names.

Atesen Software is independent. Atlassian and Confluence are trademarks of Atlassian, and this page is not affiliated with or endorsed by Atlassian. The Atlassian pages and tickets cited here were checked on 23 October 2026; menus and options can change.

Questions about this guide: support@atesensoftware.com.