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set-permissions-access-test.md

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title Set permissions and access for manual testing
titleSuffix Azure DevOps
description How to grant or restrict access to test plans, test suites, test cases, and other test-related features.
ms.subservice azure-devops-security
ai-usage ai-assisted
ms.assetid
ms.author chcomley
author chcomley
ms.topic how-to
monikerRange <= azure-devops
ms.date 03/09/2026

Set permissions and access for testing

[!INCLUDE version-lt-eq-azure-devops]

To fully utilize Azure Test Plans, you need to understand and configure the necessary permissions and access levels. This article outlines the steps, so you can:

  • Grant access to manual testing features
  • Manage test plans and test suites
  • Set permissions for creating and deleting test artifacts

By following these guidelines, you can ensure that your team has the appropriate access to efficiently manage and execute test plans.

To manage access to manual test features, grant specific permissions to users or groups at the object or project level for the following tasks:

Prerequisites

::: moniker range="azure-devops"

Category Requirements
Access levels Basic + Test Plans or specific subscriptions like Enterprise, Test Professional, or MSDN Platforms.
Permissions - To manage project or object-level test-related permissions or to permanently delete test artifacts: Member of the Project Administrators security group.
- To manage access levels or organization-level permissions: Member of the Project Collection Administrators security group or Edit instance-level information set to Allow.

::: moniker-end

::: moniker range="< azure-devops"

Category Requirements
Access levels member of the Azure DevOps Server Administrators security group.
Permissions - To manage project or object-level test-related permissions or to permanently delete test artifacts: Member of the Project Administrators security group.
- To manage access levels or organization-level permissions: Member of the Project Collection Administrators security group or Edit instance-level information set to Allow.

::: moniker-end

For more information, see About access levels and Change access levels for users or groups.

Grant access to manual testing features

For full access to Test Plans, users must have Basic + Test Plans access level. Users with Basic access and permissions to permanently delete work items and manage test artifacts can only delete orphaned test cases.

Manage test plans and test suites under an area path

Follow these steps to grant permissions for managing test artifacts at the area path level.

  1. Sign in to your project (https://dev.azure.com/{Your_Organization/Your_Project}).

  2. Select Project settings > Project configuration.

  3. Select Areas > ...(ellipses) > Security.

    :::image type="content" source="media/delete-test-plans-open-area-permissions.png" alt-text="Screenshot showing opened Area path permissions for project.":::

  4. Set the permissions for Manage test plans and Manage test suites to Allow.

    :::image type="content" source="media/manage-test-plans-test-suites-access.png" alt-text="Screenshot showing access set to Allow for test plans and suites.":::

Set permissions for managing test artifacts

When you manage testing artifacts like test plans, test suites, and test cases, the process for deleting these artifacts is distinct from deleting nontest work items.

Users with Basic access and with permissions to permanently delete work items and manage test artifacts can only delete orphaned test cases. That is, they can delete test cases created from Work that aren't linked to any test plans or test suites.

Important

When you delete test artifacts like test plans, test suites, and test cases, note the following information:

  • Permanent deletion: Azure DevOps only supports permanent deletion of these artifacts.
  • No recycle bin: Deleted test artifacts don’t appear in the recycle bin and you can't restore them.
  • Associated child items: Deletion affects associated child items, including child test suites, test points across all configurations, testers (the underlying test case work item remains unaffected), test results history, and other related history.
  • Removal from TCM data store: The deleted test artifact is removed from the test case management (TCM) data store, and the underlying work item is deleted.
  • Child item deletion: A job runs to delete all child items both from the TCM side and the underlying work items. This process might take up to a few minutes depending on the number of artifacts you're deleting.
  • Irreversible deletion: All information in the work item tracking data store and TCM data store is permanently deleted and cannot be reactivated or restored.

::: moniker range="azure-devops"

Set permissions for managing test artifacts.

  1. Sign in to your project (https://dev.azure.com/{Your_Organization/Your_Project}).

  2. Select Project settings > Permissions.

    Screenshot showing Choose Project settings > Permissions.

  3. Select a user or group.

  4. Select from the dropdown menus to change the permissions for each item.

    In the following example, you grant users assigned to the Team Admin group permissions to view test runs and manage test configurations and environments.

    :::image type="content" source="media/test-permissions/set-project-level-test-permissions-new-ui.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Set project-level test permissions for a custom group, Team Admin.":::

    The portal automatically saves updated permissions. ::: moniker-end

::: moniker range="< azure-devops"

In the following example, you grant members assigned to the Test Admin group permissions to delete test runs.

:::image type="content" source="media/set-permissions-project-level-dialog.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Set project-level permissions for a custom group, Team Admin.":::

::: moniker-end

Next steps

[!div class="nextstepaction"] Navigate Test Plans

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