Change default workspace access to Consumer access

Raman_Unifeye — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 11:46:39 GMT

When Databricks One was launched, the default behaviour of the system-managed users group was a major issue. Since every new user is automatically added to users group, and that group traditionally came with "Workspace Access" entitlements, admins had to manually strip permissions downgrade people to the Consumer access only.

Databricks has now acknowledged this messy workaround and released the Group Cloning feature specifically to solve the "Author vs. Consumer" split.

Admins can now set Consumer access as the default for new users by using the 'group cloning' tool. This transition migrates current authors to a new group while restricting the default users group to a view-only experience in Databricks One. New users will automatically receive a simplified interface for dashboards and apps, safeguarding workspace integrity without disrupting current workflows.

Databricks Official Documentation - https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/security/auth/change-default-workspace-access

So What?? :

Security by Default:Now it is following a "Least Privilege" model. Users must be promoted to an Author group to build things, rather than being demoted after they've already seen the technical "guts" of the platform.
Onboarding at Scale: Now one can add 100s business users at once without worrying about them accidentally spinning up expensive clusters or cluttering the workspace.

I just used this in our all workspaces and its very neat!!!!

Re: Change default workspace access to Consumer access

Advika — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 13:20:24 GMT

Thanks for sharing your experience, @Raman_Unifeye! Your hands-on insights and the doc link make it easy for others to follow.

Re: Change default workspace access to Consumer access

Raman_Unifeye — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 16:57:53 GMT

Thanks @Advika. it was certainly a big win for my env.

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Change default workspace access to Consumer access

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Re: Change default workspace access to Consumer access