How to Manage Project Access and Visibility in Odoo 19: Complete Guide
By Braincuber Team
Published on May 9, 2026
Project management requires striking the right balance between collaboration and confidentiality. Not every project needs to be visible to the entire organization, and not every external partner needs full access. Odoo 19 project visibility settings let you control exactly who can see, edit, or contribute to each project whether managing internal teams, collaborating with clients, or handling sensitive work. This complete tutorial walks you through all three visibility levels, follower-based access control, and portal user collaboration modes with hands-on step-by-step instructions for every scenario.
What You Will Learn:
- How the three project visibility levels work in Odoo 19 and when to use each one
- How to create a new project and configure billing, timesheets, and customer settings
- How to set a project to Invited Internal Users mode and add followers
- How to switch to All Internal Users visibility for company-wide transparency
- How to enable portal user access using the Invited Portal Users visibility level
- How the three collaborator access modes (Read, Edit with limited access, Edit) differ in practice
- How to verify that portal users only see tasks matched to their access permissions
Prerequisites
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Odoo 19 Instance | Access to a running Odoo 19 instance with the Project module installed |
| Admin/Manager Access | User account with project management rights to configure visibility and sharing |
| Internal Users | At least one additional internal user account for testing follower-based visibility |
| Portal User | At least one portal user configured for testing external collaborator access |
Understanding the Three Project Visibility Levels in Odoo 19
Odoo 19 provides three distinct visibility levels that control which users can access a project. Each level serves a different business need, from tightly restricted internal work to open collaboration with external clients. Understanding these options before you set up a project ensures the right people have access while sensitive data stays protected.
| Visibility Level | Who Can Access | Best Used For |
|---|---|---|
| Invited Internal Users (Private) | Only employees added as followers of the project or task; assignees are automatically granted access | Restricted or confidential projects that should only be visible to a specific team |
| All Internal Users | Every internal employee within the company | Organizations where transparency is critical and multiple departments need access |
| Invited Portal Users and All Internal Users (Public) | All internal users plus specifically invited portal users with configurable access rights | Projects requiring collaboration with customers, suppliers, or external partners |
An important detail to note: personnel who are designated as Assignees for project tasks are automatically granted access to the project regardless of the visibility setting. This means even under Invited Internal Users mode, any employee assigned to a task within the project will be able to view it. This ensures task owners never lose access to work they are responsible for.
Creating a New Project in Odoo 19
Navigate to the Project module from the main dashboard. You will see all existing projects displayed. To create a new project, click the New button at the top left of the project kanban view. A project creation form appears with several fields that define how the project behaves. You can also create projects from existing project templates if your organization has predefined workflows.
Fill in the Project Creation Form and Create the Project
Enter a Name for the project. Enable the Timesheets option if you want to record time spent on tasks. Toggle Billable on to enable time and material billing for client projects. Link the project to a specific Customer from the dropdown if it is client-facing. Optionally define an Email Alias to create tasks by sending emails to the project. Click Create Project when all fields are filled to complete the setup.
Project Visibility Is Configured After Creation
The visibility setting is not available during the initial project creation form. After creating the project from the kanban view, you must access the Settings tab within the project's detailed view to change the visibility. The default visibility when a project is first created depends on your Odoo configuration but can be changed at any time.
Accessing Project Settings to Change Visibility
From the project kanban dashboard, locate the project card whose visibility you want to adjust. Click the three vertical dots icon on the top right corner of the project card and select Settings from the dropdown menu. This opens the detailed project view. Navigate to the Settings tab at the top of the page. The Visibility field is located here, and clicking it reveals the three available options. Select the appropriate visibility level and save the changes.
Setting Visibility to Invited Internal Users (Private Mode)
Set the Visibility field to Invited Internal Users. This restricts project access exclusively to employees who are added as followers. Even employees in the same department will not see the project unless they have been explicitly added. This is the most restrictive setting and should be used for confidential initiatives, HR projects, financial planning, or any work that requires a strict need-to-know basis.
Add Internal Users as Project Followers for Private Access
Click the Add Followers icon on the project detail view (shown as a person icon with a plus sign near the top of the project page). A wizard titled Add followers to this page opens. Add the employees who need access as Recipients. You can add multiple recipients at once. The Notify Recipients toggle determines whether they receive a notification when added. Click Add and close when done. Employees who are also added as task assignees receive automatic access regardless of follower status.
To verify the private visibility is working, log in as one of the added followers. The project appears in their project dashboard and they can view tasks, create new tasks under it, and manage the project responsibilities. If you log in as an employee who has not been added as a follower and is not an assignee on any task, the project will be completely invisible in their dashboard.
Setting Visibility to All Internal Users
Change the Visibility field to All Internal Users. This setting grants every employee in the company access to the project without requiring individual follower assignments. Use this setting for company-wide initiatives, departmental projects that benefit from cross-team visibility, or scenarios where the overhead of managing individual follower lists is impractical. Any internal user who navigates to the Project module will see this project in their dashboard and can interact with it based on their general Odoo user rights.
Switch Project Visibility to All Internal Users
Open the project Settings tab and change Visibility to All Internal Users. Save the change. This action immediately grants access to every internal employee account. There is no need to manage follower lists or worry about access provisioning. The project appears in every internal user's dashboard when they open the Project module. This is the simplest visibility mode and works well when organizational transparency is valued and multiple departments need insight into project progress.
Setting Visibility to Invited Portal Users and All Internal Users
Change the Visibility field to Invited Portal Users and All Internal Users. This is the most flexible option and unlocks a new Share Project button at the top of the project detail page. This visibility level makes the project accessible to all internal users while also allowing you to selectively grant access to portal users such as clients, suppliers, or external contractors. The Share Project feature lets you control not just who sees the project but also what they can do within it.
Enable Portal Access and Share the Project with External Collaborators
Click the Share Project button that appears at the top of the page when this visibility is active. A sharing wizard opens where you can invite portal users as collaborators. Select a portal user from the contact list and choose an Access Mode from three options. Check the box to send the invitation. Odoo displays Project shared with your collaborators to confirm. The project is also given a public link that allows anyone with the URL to view it in read-only mode from the portal.
The three collaborator access modes control what portal users can do within the shared project. Each mode offers progressively more control, letting you match the access level to the collaborator's role. A client who only needs visibility into progress gets Read access. A contractor who manages specific deliverables gets Edit with limited access. A trusted partner who manages the entire project gets full Edit access.
Collaborator Access Modes Explained
| Access Mode | View Tasks | Edit Tasks | Create New Tasks | Scope of Edit Access |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Read | Yes | No | No | Cannot modify any task; view only |
| Edit with limited access | Yes | Only followed tasks | Yes | Can create new tasks; can only edit tasks where they are a follower |
| Edit | Yes | All tasks | Yes | Can view and edit every task in the kanban view; can choose which tasks to follow |
Testing Read Access Mode as a Portal User
Set the Access Mode to Read for a portal collaborator such as Joel Willis and send the invitation. Log in as that portal user, navigate to their portal, and go to the Projects section. Select the shared project from the list. The portal user sees the task list but cannot edit or add new tasks. The system shows only the Task Name, Assignees, and Time Spent on each task in the list view. From the detailed view of a task, they can see additional information such as the Customer, Allocated Time, and Project Progress. The Edit and Create buttons are absent.
Test Edit with Limited Access by Adding Portal User as Task Follower
Change the collaborator's Access Mode to Edit with limited access. Add the portal user as a follower of a specific task within the project. The portal user can now view and edit that followed task, though they cannot edit other tasks they do not follow. They can also create new tasks from the portal. If you have 7 tasks and the portal user follows only 1, they see all 7 tasks in the list but can only edit the one they follow. The task list can alternatively be viewed in Kanban view from the portal interface.
Automatic Follower Assignment for Project Clients
When a customer is linked to a project during project creation, that customer is automatically added as a follower of the project and its tasks. This means if you set a project's visibility to Invited Portal Users and the customer is a portal user, they gain access without needing to be manually added through the Share Project button. This applies to any customer field set at the project level.
Testing Full Edit Access Mode
Change the collaborator's Access Mode to Edit. This grants the most permissive access. The portal user can view and edit all tasks and subtasks within the project from their portal interface. They can modify task details, change statuses, add subtasks, and choose which specific tasks to follow for notifications. The full Kanban view is available, and the user has near-complete control over task management within that shared project. This mode is best for trusted external project managers, lead contractors, or key client stakeholders who need to actively drive work forward rather than just observe progress.
Public Link Access
When visibility is set to Invited Portal Users, the project gets a public URL that anyone with the link can view in read mode. This is useful for sharing progress with stakeholders who do not have portal accounts.
Assignee Auto-Access
Employees assigned as task assignees are automatically granted project access regardless of visibility settings. This ensures task owners always have visibility into the work they are responsible for.
Visibility Can Change at Any Time
A project's visibility can be switched between all three modes at any point during the project lifecycle. There is no lock-in. Start private, go company-wide for review, then share with the client when ready.
Kanban View for Portal Users
Portal users with Edit or Edit with limited access can toggle between list and Kanban views. This makes it easy for external collaborators to understand task status at a glance using the same interface internal users see.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I change a project's visibility after tasks have already been created?
Yes, you can switch between all three visibility levels at any point during the project lifecycle. Existing tasks and their followers are preserved. Changing visibility to a more restrictive level removes access from users who no longer qualify under the new setting, but no data is deleted.
What is the difference between a portal user and an internal user in Odoo 19?
Internal users are employees with Odoo licenses who can access multiple modules. Portal users are external contacts like clients or suppliers who have limited access through the portal interface only. Portal users cannot access the full Odoo backend and have restricted capabilities controlled by the access mode you set.
Does the public link for a shared project require authentication?
The public link generated when you set visibility to Invited Portal Users provides read-only access. Whether authentication is required depends on your Odoo configuration. By default, the public link may be accessible without login, but you can configure access restrictions through Odoo's security settings.
Can a portal user be added as a follower without using the Share Project button?
Yes, portal users can be added as followers through the same Add Followers wizard used for internal users. However, they will only see the project if the visibility is set to Invited Portal Users. At lower visibility levels, being a follower alone does not grant a portal user access to the project.
How is Edit with limited access different from Read access?
Read access is strictly view-only for the entire project with no ability to modify any task or create new ones. Edit with limited access allows the collaborator to create new tasks and edit tasks they follow, while tasks they do not follow remain read-only. It provides a middle ground between full restriction and full edit capability.
Need Help Configuring Odoo 19 Projects?
Our Odoo experts can help you set up project visibility levels, portal access controls, and custom collaboration workflows tailored to your team structure and client engagement needs.