Restricted projects provide enhanced access control for your most sensitive information in Priority Matrix. With granular access control features, these projects ensure that confidential discussions—such as HR matters, executive planning, or proprietary research—remain visible only to authorized team members. When a project is marked as restricted, only project administrators can modify team membership and certain project settings, giving you complete control over who can access sensitive data.

What are Restricted Projects?

A restricted project is a Priority Matrix project with advanced access control mechanisms. These projects are identified by a “restricted” tag and a lock icon displayed next to the project name.

Restricted projects implement strict access control through the following features:

  • Membership access control: Only project administrators can add or remove team members (with confirmation required)
  • Item assignment access control: No one, including administrators, can assign non-project-members as item owners or followers
  • User group access restrictions: User groups cannot be assigned to or removed from restricted projects to maintain precise access control
  • Privacy protection: Items in restricted projects cannot be made public, even by administrators
  • Tag access management: Only project administrators can add or remove the “restricted” tag
  • User visibility control: Non-administrators can only see existing project members when assigning tasks or adding followers

These access control measures ensure that sensitive information stays within the intended team and that access is carefully managed by project leadership.

Perfect for HR and Confidential Discussions

Restricted projects are ideal for scenarios requiring strict access control:

  • HR Departments: Discuss employee performance, compensation, or disciplinary matters without risk of accidentally adding the employee in question to the project or item. The access control prevents anyone from mistakenly granting visibility to sensitive HR discussions.
  • Executive Planning: Keep strategic discussions, acquisitions, or reorganization plans confidential with controlled access
  • Legal Matters: Manage litigation, contracts, or compliance issues with appropriate access control
  • Financial Planning: Protect budget discussions, financial projections, or audit findings
  • Product Development: Safeguard proprietary research, unreleased features, or competitive analysis

Who Can Use Restricted Projects?

Restricted projects and their access control features are available to teams on Business and Collaborate plans. This feature is designed for organizations that need professional-grade access control for confidential projects.

If you’re on an Individual or Free plan, you can participate in restricted projects if invited, but you won’t be able to create new restricted projects or modify access control settings.

How to Enable Access Control on a Project

To activate access control for a project:

  1. Open the project you want to restrict
  2. Navigate to the project settings or tags section
  3. Add the tag “restricted” to the project, or use the “restrict project” entry from the corner menu

Once marked as restricted, the enhanced access control will immediately take effect. All existing team members will retain their current access, but future membership changes will require administrator approval. Watch our video tutorial to see this process in action.

Managing Access Control in Restricted Projects

As a project administrator in a restricted project, you have full access control over:

  • Team membership: Complete control over adding and removing team members
  • Project settings: Authority to modify project details and tags
  • Access control status: Ability to enable or disable the restricted status

Regular team members (non-administrators) maintain productive access while respecting access control:

  • Create, edit, and complete tasks within the project
  • Add comments and collaborate on items
  • View all project content they have access to
  • Assign tasks only to existing team members (access control prevents assignment to non-members)

Key Access Control Features

Visual identification: The lock icon next to project names helps team members immediately recognize projects with enhanced access control.

Accidental exposure prevention: Access control ensures items in restricted projects cannot be shared publicly, preventing inadvertent disclosure of sensitive information—particularly important for HR discussions about specific employees.

Controlled onboarding: To assign tasks to someone new, administrators must first explicitly grant them project access. This access control checkpoint ensures all permissions are intentional and documented.

Administrator accountability: Project administrators serve as access control gatekeepers, responsible for vetting all membership requests and maintaining appropriate access levels.

Compliance support: The access control features of restricted projects help organizations meet various regulatory requirements by providing auditable access management and preventing unauthorized information sharing.

Upgrading for Enhanced Access Control

To implement access control through restricted projects, upgrade to a Business or Collaborate plan from your account settings. These plans include professional access control features and additional security controls designed for team environments handling sensitive information.

Existing restricted projects will maintain their access control settings if you downgrade your plan, but you won’t be able to create new restricted projects or modify access control configurations.

Best Practices for Access Control

  • Regular access reviews: Periodically audit project membership to ensure access control remains appropriate
  • Clear naming conventions: Use descriptive project names that indicate sensitivity level
  • Document access decisions: Keep records of why specific users were granted or denied access
  • Train administrators: Ensure all project administrators understand their access control responsibilities
  • Use for truly sensitive data: Reserve restricted projects for information requiring genuine access control, not routine work

Access control through restricted projects gives your organization the confidence to collaborate on sensitive matters while maintaining security and compliance.