Communication Site - Restricted View Copying Issues

SharePoint has no documented control that guarantees “block file download and copying while always allowing text copy”; the closest supported configuration is to remove the current text-copy restriction and have a SharePoint administrator pilot the site-level Block Download policy, then validate clipboard behavior for each required file type and browser.

1. Identify and remove the existing text-copy restriction

Before testing another policy, determine what “Restricted View” means in your configuration:

• SharePoint permission level: Replace the affected users’ Restricted/View Only-style assignment with the site’s normal Read access. Be aware that Read alone permits downloading, while View Only prevents downloads only for files that SharePoint can render in the browser; unsupported file types can still be downloaded.^1^
• Information Rights Management (IRM): Disable the IRM restriction on the affected library before testing. IRM can explicitly disable copying text as well as saving local copies, so leaving it enabled may continue blocking the clipboard regardless of the site policy.^2^
• Another tenant policy: Ask the SharePoint administrator to identify it before changing permissions. Do not remove a compliance policy without approval.

Removing the current restriction temporarily permits downloads, so make this change in a pilot site or during a controlled test window.

2. Pilot the Block Download policy

This is an administrator-level configuration, not a Communication Site owner setting. The organization must meet the SharePoint Advanced Management licensing, role, and PowerShell prerequisites. Supported base subscriptions alone are not sufficient; access also depends on Microsoft Copilot, the SharePoint Advanced Management Plan 1 add-on, or another listed entitlement.^3^

A SharePoint Administrator should:

1. Install or update the SharePoint Online Management Shell.
2. Connect to the tenant’s SharePoint admin endpoint.
3. Enable the policy on the pilot site.

Install-Module Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell -Scope CurrentUser
Import-Module Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell

Connect-SPOService -Url https://contoso-admin.sharepoint.com

Set-SPOSite `
  -Identity https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/communicationsite `
  -BlockDownloadPolicy $true

Replace both example URLs with the tenant admin URL and Communication Site URL. The documented site command is Set-SPOSite -Identity <SiteURL> -BlockDownloadPolicy $true.^4^

If site owners must retain download rights, they can be excluded:

Set-SPOSite `
  -Identity https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/communicationsite `
  -BlockDownloadPolicy $true `
  -ExcludeBlockDownloadPolicySiteOwners $true

3. Validate the exact user experience

For a test user who has only Read access:

1. Open the site in each supported browser.
2. Test Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, and any other required formats separately.
3. Confirm that:
   • Download, print, and sync are unavailable.
   • The document cannot be opened through Microsoft 365 desktop apps.
   • Moving the file to another SharePoint site is blocked.
   • Selecting and copying text works in the applicable browser viewer.

The Block Download policy explicitly provides browser-only access and blocks downloading, printing, syncing, desktop-app access, and file movement.^4^ Microsoft’s documentation does not explicitly promise that clipboard copying remains available in every viewer, browser, and file format, so the final requirement must be validated in the pilot.

Even when clipboard copying works, SharePoint cannot prevent users from pasting that text into a new document; allowing text extraction inherently allows a user-created copy of that text. It can still prevent acquisition of the original file.

Avoid using IRM as the fallback for this requirement: users with View Items receive Read rights that do not permit copying content, which reproduces the behavior you are trying to remove.^2^

References

1. Permission levels in SharePoint
2. Apply Information Rights Management (IRM) to a list or library
3. Prerequisites for SharePoint Advanced Management
4. Block download policy for SharePoint sites and OneDrive