afv-library/skills/platform-sharing-owd-configure/references/access_levels.md

OWD Access Levels Reference

Valid Access Level Values

API Value	Display Name	Description
Private	Private	Only record owner and users above in role hierarchy can view/edit
Read	Public Read Only	All users can view records but only owner can edit
ReadWrite	Public Read/Write	All users can view and edit all records
ReadWriteTransfer	Public Read/Write/Transfer	All users can view, edit, and transfer ownership (Cases, Leads only)
FullAccess	Public Full Access	All users have full access including delete (Campaigns only)
ControlledByParent	Controlled by Parent	Access determined by parent record's sharing (requires Master-Detail)

Object-Specific Restrictions

Object	Allowed Values	Notes
Account	Private, Read, ReadWrite	Contact and Opportunity OWD tied to Account when ControlledByParent
Contact	Private, Read, ReadWrite, ControlledByParent	ControlledByParent ties to Account
Opportunity	Private, Read, ReadWrite, ControlledByParent	ControlledByParent ties to Account
Case	Private, Read, ReadWrite, ReadWriteTransfer	Transfer is unique to Case
Lead	Private, Read, ReadWrite, ReadWriteTransfer	Transfer is unique to Lead
Campaign	Private, Read, ReadWrite, FullAccess	FullAccess is unique to Campaign
Custom Objects	Private, Read, ReadWrite, ControlledByParent	ControlledByParent requires Master-Detail field

Cross-Object Constraints

Constraint	Detail
Account = Private cascades	Setting Account to Private forces Contact, Case, and Opportunity to Private — all four recalculate together
Contract tied to Account	Contract OWD cannot be set independently; it follows Account's OWD
Pricebook	Only accepts Use or No Access (ReadSelect / None in API) — standard access levels do not apply
ControlledByParent cascade	If a child object uses ControlledByParent, changing the parent's OWD implicitly changes the child's effective access

Internal vs External Access

• Internal access: Applies to users within the org (internal users)
• External access: Applies to external users (Community/Experience Cloud users, portal users)
• External access can never be more permissive than internal access
• External OWD must be enabled in Setup before external values appear

Common Transitions

From	To	Impact
Public Read/Write → Private	High	Triggers full sharing recalculation; users lose access immediately
Private → Public Read Only	Medium	Grants read access to all; recalculation needed
Private → Public Read/Write	Low	Opens access broadly; fast operation
Any → ControlledByParent	High	Requires Master-Detail relationship; existing sharing rules deleted