Private Sharing
In Salesforce Chatter, a file or post sharing setting where the content is shared only with specific, invited individuals rather than being visible to the entire organization or a public group.
Definition
In Salesforce Chatter, a file or post sharing setting where the content is shared only with specific, invited individuals rather than being visible to the entire organization or a public group.
In plain English
“Private Sharing in Chatter is when you share a file or post with specific invited individuals only, instead of making it visible to your whole organization or a public group. It's how you share something with just the people who need to see it.”
Worked example
The recruiter at Threadbare Apparel finalizes a draft offer letter for a senior product designer and shares the file on Chatter using Private Sharing - visible only to the hiring manager and the comp committee chair, no one else. The three of them comment back and forth on salary range, equity grant, and start-date language; the file never appears in the Threadbare-wide Chatter feed and isn't visible to anyone outside the three named recipients. Once approved, the offer goes out via DocuSign. Private Sharing on Chatter is what made the iteration possible without leaking a sensitive HR document - a public group post or All-Employees post would have exposed the draft to the company.
Why Private Sharing matters
In Salesforce Chatter, Private Sharing is a file or post sharing setting where the content is shared only with specific, invited individuals rather than being visible to the entire organization or a public group. Users explicitly select who can see private content, with no broader visibility. This contrasts with public posts (visible to the whole org) or group posts (visible to group members).
Private sharing is appropriate when content needs limited distribution: sensitive announcements, confidential documents, or personal communications. Mature Chatter usage distinguishes private from public content carefully, with private being the right choice when broader visibility would be inappropriate. For most everyday collaboration, public or group posts are typically the right pattern; private sharing is the exception for sensitive content.
How organizations use Private Sharing
Uses private sharing for sensitive HR communications that should reach specific individuals only.
Trains users on when to use private sharing versus public or group sharing based on content sensitivity.
Treats private sharing as the exception for sensitive content rather than the default.
About the Author
Dipojjal Chakrabarti is a B2C Solution Architect with 29 Salesforce certifications and over 13 years in the Salesforce ecosystem. He runs salesforcedictionary.com to help admins, developers, architects, and cert/interview candidates sharpen their fundamentals. More about Dipojjal.
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