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---
stage: Manage
group: Authentication and Authorization
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
---
# Subgroups **(FREE)**
> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/issues/2772) in GitLab 9.0.
You can organize GitLab [groups](../index.md) into subgroups. You can use subgroups to:
- Separate internal and external organizations. Because every subgroup can have its own
[visibility level](../../../development/permissions.md#general-permissions), you can host groups for different
purposes under the same parent group.
- Organize large projects. You can use subgroups to give different access to parts of
the source code.
- Manage people and control visibility. Give a user a different
[role](../../permissions.md#group-members-permissions) for each group they're [a member of](#subgroup-membership).
Subgroups can:
- Belong to one immediate parent group.
- Have many subgroups.
- Be nested up to 20 levels.
- Use [runners](../../../ci/runners/index.md) registered to parent groups:
- Secrets configured for the parent group are available to subgroup jobs.
- Users with the Maintainer role in projects that belong to subgroups can see the details of runners registered to
parent groups.
For example:
```mermaid
graph TD
subgraph "Parent group"
subgraph "Subgroup A"
subgraph "Subgroup A1"
G["Project E"]
end
C["Project A"]
D["Project B"]
E["Project C"]
end
subgraph "Subgroup B"
F["Project D"]
end
end
```
## Create a subgroup
Users with the at least the Maintainer role on a group can create subgroups immediately below the group, unless
[configured otherwise](#change-who-can-create-subgroups). These users can create subgroups even if group creation is
[disabled by an Administrator](../../admin_area/index.md#prevent-a-user-from-creating-groups) in the user's settings.
To create a subgroup:
1. On the top bar, select **Menu > Groups** and find and select the parent group to add a subgroup to.
1. On the parent group's overview page, in the top right, select **New subgroup**.
1. Select **Create group**.
1. Fill in the fields. View a list of [reserved names](../../reserved_names.md) that cannot be used as group names.
1. Select **Create group**.
### Change who can create subgroups
To create a subgroup, you must have at least the Maintainer role on the group, depending on the group's setting. By
default:
- In GitLab 12.2 or later, users with at least the Maintainer role can create subgroups.
- In GitLab 12.1 or earlier, only users with the Owner role can create subgroups.
To change who can create subgroups on a group:
- As a user with the Owner role on the group:
1. On the top bar, select **Menu > Groups** and find the group.
1. On the left sidebar, select **Settings > General**.
1. Expand **Permissions and group features**.
1. Select a role from the **Allowed to create subgroups** dropdown.
- As an administrator:
1. On the top bar, select **Menu > Admin**.
1. On the left sidebar, select **Overview > Groups**.
1. Select the group, and select **Edit**.
1. Select a role from the **Allowed to create subgroups** dropdown.
For more information, view the [permissions table](../../permissions.md#group-members-permissions).
## Subgroup membership
When you add a member to a group, that member is also added to all subgroups. The user's permissions are inherited from
the group's parent.
Subgroup members can:
1. Be [direct members](../../project/members/index.md#add-users-to-a-project) of the subgroup.
1. [Inherit membership](../../project/members/index.md#inherited-membership) of the subgroup from the subgroup's parent group.
1. Be a member of a group that was [shared with the subgroup's top-level group](../index.md#share-a-group-with-another-group).
```mermaid
flowchart RL
subgraph Group A
A(Direct member)
B{{Shared member}}
subgraph Subgroup A
H(1. Direct member)
C{{2. Inherited member}}
D{{Inherited member}}
E{{3. Shared member}}
end
A-->|Direct membership of Group A\nInherited membership of Subgroup A|C
end
subgraph Group C
G(Direct member)
end
subgraph Group B
F(Direct member)
end
F-->|Group B\nshared with\nGroup A|B
B-->|Inherited membership of Subgroup A|D
G-->|Group C shared with Subgroup A|E
```
Group permissions for a member can be changed only by:
- Users with the Owner role on the group.
- Changing the configuration of the group the member was added to.
### Determine membership inheritance
To see if a member has inherited the permissions from a parent group:
1. On the top bar, select **Menu > Groups** and find the group.
1. Select **Group information > Members**.
Members list for an example subgroup _Four_:
In the screenshot above:
- Five members have access to group _Four_.
- User 0 has the Reporter role on group _Four_, and has inherited their permissions from group _One_:
- User 0 is a direct member of group _One_.
- Group _One_ is above group _Four_ in the hierarchy.
- User 1 has the Developer role on group _Four_ and inherited their permissions from group _Two_:
- User 0 is a direct member of group _Two_, which is a subgroup of group _One_.
- Groups _One / Two_ are above group _Four_ in the hierarchy.
- User 2 has the Developer role on group _Four_ and has inherited their permissions from group _Three_:
- User 0 is a direct member of group _Three_, which is a subgroup of group _Two_. Group _Two_ is a subgroup of group
_One_.
- Groups _One / Two / Three_ are above group _Four_ the hierarchy.
- User 3 is a direct member of group _Four_. This means they get their Maintainer role directly from group _Four_.
- Administrator has the Owner role on group _Four_ and is a member of all subgroups. For that reason, as with User 3,
the **Source** column indicates they are a direct member.
Members can be [filtered by inherited or direct membership](../index.md#filter-a-group).
### Override ancestor group membership
Users with the Owner role on a subgroup can add members to it.
You can't give a user a role on a subgroup that's lower than the roles they have on ancestor groups. To override a user's
role on an ancestor group, add the user to the subgroup again with a higher role. For example:
- If User 1 is added to group _Two_ with the Developer role, they inherit that role in every subgroup of group _Two_.
- To give User 1 the Maintainer role on group _Four_ (under _One / Two / Three_), add them again to group _Four_ with
the Maintainer role.
- If User 1 is removed from group _Four_, their role falls back to their role on group _Two_. They have the Developer
role on group _Four_ again.
## Mention subgroups
Mentioning subgroups ([`@<subgroup_name>`](../../discussions/index.md#mentions)) in issues, commits, and merge requests
notifies all members of that group. Mentioning works the same as for projects and groups, and you can choose the group
of people to be notified.
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