TL;DR: Create a custom SharePoint permission level without ‘View Application Pages’ to force users through your Power App and block direct list access.
💡 Challenge
How do you make sure users work with SharePoint data strictly through Power Apps, preventing direct access and the data-integrity issues that come with it?
✅ Solution
Create a custom SharePoint permission level that removes View Application Pages. Users in that group can still read and write data through Power Apps, but can’t open the SharePoint lists directly.
🔧 How It’s Done
1. Create a custom permission level
🔸 Go to Site Permissions → Permission Levels.
🔸 Open the Contribute level and click Copy Permission Level.
🔸 Name it “Power Apps - Custom Permission” and add a description.
🔸 Under List Permissions, uncheck View Application Pages.
🔸 Click Create.
2. Assign it to a new group
🔸 In Site Permissions, click Create Group.
🔸 Name it (e.g. “Power App Users”) and set an owner if desired.
🔸 Select the custom permission level you just created, then click Create.
3. Add users
🔸 Add users to the “Power App Users” group. They now work with the data through your Power App, without direct GUI access to the SharePoint lists or application pages.
🎉 Result
Power Apps users’ access is deliberately limited: interactions are routed through the app, and users can’t open SharePoint lists via the GUI, aligning with best practices for data integrity and security.
🌟 Key Advantages
🔸 Data security: restricts direct access to SharePoint data, routing it through Power Apps.
🔸 Controlled access: administrators fine-tune permissions to fit operational needs.
🔸 Flexibility: keep SharePoint as the data source while enforcing strict access control.
🎥 Video Tutorial
🛠️ FAQ
1. How do I remove or modify the custom permission level? Go to Site Permissions → Permission Levels, select “Power Apps - Custom Permission,” and edit or delete it as needed.
2. Will this affect other users’ access to application pages? Only users in the custom group lose the View Application Pages right. Users with default or elevated permissions are unaffected.
3. Can this approach be applied to document libraries and other list types? Yes, assign the custom permission level to any SharePoint list or library to extend the same protection.
Marcel Lehmann
Microsoft MVP