Unable to Share Confluence Page – “Access change failed” Error Despite Correct Permissions

[Tanvi Agrawal]

Hi there,

We’re using Confluence Cloud under a free plan for our startup team. I’m the space admin and trying to share a page with a licensed team member who already has access to the space.

Every time I try to add them via the Share button, I get the error:

“Access change failed. We ran into a problem completing your action. Wait a while and try again.”

✅ Things I’ve already checked: 

• The user has a valid Confluence license and shows up under site users.

• They are added to the appropriate group with edit permissions.

• I am a space admin.

• No page-level restrictions that would block access.

• Tried incognito, clearing cache, and using a different browser.

• Also tried sharing from a new test page — same issue.

Is this a known issue or is there something else we can try? 

Thanks in advance!

[Vishalakshi Narayana Swamy]

Hi Tanvi,

Welcome to Atlassian community!

Yes, in Confluence Cloud's Free plan, you can share pages, but there are limitations compared to paid plans. While users can view and edit any page within the instance, you cannot set specific permissions or create public links for external sharing. 

What you can do:

• Share pages with logged-in users: Anyone who has access to your Confluence instance can view and edit any page within it. 
• Use the "Share" button: You can use the share button to send a link to a page via email or other messaging tools, notifying users within your instance. 
• Draft and update pages: You can create, edit, and update pages as needed. 

What you cannot do:

• Set permissions for specific users or groups:

  You can't restrict access to certain pages or spaces based on user roles or groups. 
• Create public links:

  You can't generate links that allow external users (without Confluence accounts) to view pages. 
• Use advanced permission features:

  Features like granular access control and restrictions are only available on paid plans. 

In the Free plan, Confluence is open by default. Any user who can log in to your instance can see all the content. If you need more control over who can access specific pages or want to share pages externally, you'll need to upgrade to a paid plan. 

For more information, kindly refer to https://support.atlassian.com/confluence-cloud/docs/manage-permissions-in-the-free-edition-of-confluence-cloud/.

Hope this helps!

Best regards,

Vishalakshi Narayanaswamy

[Tanvi Agrawal]

Hi Vishalakshi,

Thanks for the response but it is not answering my query. Please see the specific error message – it has nothing to do with permissions or the plan. It is a bug. 

We have been sharing spaces/ pages in the same way since we started using Confluence. There's a bug in THIS SPECIFIC SPACE.

Please review the original query before responding. Thank you so much.

[Vishalakshi Narayana Swamy]

Hi Tanvi, 

Thank you very much for writing back to us.

Since the issue is impacting only one space on your site, Can you please confirm if no other spaces are affected currently we dont have any bug with sharing pages with users, However if this is a space specific issue we might have to investigate futher.
Meanwhile, I have also triggered a reindexing on your site, can you please try sharing the page again with the user and let me know if that helps?

Best Regards,

Vishalakshi Narayanaswamy

[Tanvi Agrawal]

Hi

Thanks for looking into it and for reindexing the site.

Answers:

1. No other spaces are impacted by this issue.
2. I tried sharing this space/ page again, it is throwing the same error.

[Tinker Fadoua]

Welcome to the Atlassian Community @Tanvi Agrawal !

One question: do you have up to 10 users in your instance? since you mentioned you are on the free plan

Best

Fadoua

[Tanvi Agrawal]

Yes, we have less than 10 users currently

[Tinker Fadoua]

Ok then let me request Atlassian's help

[Tanvi Agrawal]

The response is not answering my query. It has nothing to do with permissions or the plan. It is a bug. 

We have been sharing spaces/ pages in the same way since we started using Confluence. There's a bug in THIS SPECIFIC SPACE.

Have requested them to please review the original query before responding.