# Public groups, personal groups and manager groups

*Platform Sharing and Visibility Architect Study Guide · Access to Records · Last updated October 26, 2026 · https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/platform-sharing-and-visibility-architect/access-to-records/public-groups-personal-groups-and-manager-groups*

How public, personal and manager groups collect users for sharing rules and manual shares, which members each can hold (and which users never can), how Grant Access Using Hierarchies and nesting change a group's reach, and how to keep large group membership changes fast and lock-free.

- Certification: Salesforce Platform Sharing and Visibility Architect
- Exam section: Access to Records
- Study guide: https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/platform-sharing-and-visibility-architect

**Official exam objective:**

> Given a set of conditions, determine how groups can support the record access requirements.

## What the exam expects

- Choose a public, personal or manager group as the target for a requirement.
- Decide which member types a group holds, and which users (high-volume, guest) never can.
- Predict how Grant Access Using Hierarchies and nesting change who receives records shared with a group.
- Name the other features a public group can grant access to besides records.
- Change large groups' membership without slow saves, lost members or lock errors.

Key terms: **public group** (an admin-built set of users, roles, territories and other groups used as a share target); **personal group** (a user's own group for manual shares, Classic only); **Managers Group** (a user's direct and indirect managers); **Manager Subordinates Group** (a user plus direct and indirect reports); **nesting** (a group added as a member of another group).

## Key facts

| Fact | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Personal groups | Any user, own manual shares, Salesforce Classic only | [Public and Personal Groups](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.user_groups.htm&language=en_US&type=5) |
| Nesting | No more than five levels | [Public Group Considerations](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.user_groups_considerations.htm&language=en_US&type=5) |
| Large groups | Over 10,000 members: use access summary, user access policies or GroupMember API | [Public Group Considerations](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.user_groups_considerations.htm&language=en_US&type=5) |
| High-volume users | Can't be in public or personal groups | [High-Volume Site Users](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.networks_about_hvpu.htm&language=en_US&type=5) |
| Guest users | Can't join public groups or queues; old memberships removed manually | [Secure Guest Users’ Sharing](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.networks_secure_guest_user_sharing.htm&language=en_US&type=5) |
| Manager groups | Can't be nested; no site or portal users | [Manager Groups](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.users_managers_only.htm&language=en_US&type=5) |
| All Partner Users | Every partner user allowed on the site, except high-volume users | [Sharing Rule Categories](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=networks_partners_sharing_rules.htm&language=en_US&type=5) |
| Bulk membership jobs | Off-peak, serial mode | [Tuning Group Membership](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.draes.meta/draes/draes_group_membership_takeaway.htm) |

## Check yourself

- Why does deselecting Grant Access Using Hierarchies on a group not guarantee that only members see its records?
- When should an admin avoid creating a new public group?
- Which features besides sharing rules can a public group grant access to?
- Why can't a Customer Community user be found in a public group's member search?

## Sources

- [Public and Personal Groups](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.user_groups.htm&language=en_US&type=5)
- [Public Group Considerations](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.user_groups_considerations.htm&language=en_US&type=5)
- [Group Member Types](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.users_group_member_types.htm&language=en_US&type=5)
- [Create and Edit Public Groups](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.creating_and_editing_groups.htm&language=en_US&type=5)
- [Sharing Records with Manager Groups](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.users_managers_only.htm&language=en_US&type=5)
- [Sharing Rule Categories](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=networks_partners_sharing_rules.htm&language=en_US&type=5)
- [Secure Guest Users’ Sharing Settings and Record Access](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.networks_secure_guest_user_sharing.htm&language=en_US&type=5)
- [About High-Volume Community or Site Users](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.networks_about_hvpu.htm&language=en_US&type=5)
- [Platform Sharing Architecture](https://architect.salesforce.com/docs/architect/fundamentals/guide/platform-sharing-architecture)
- [Group Membership Operations and Sharing Recalculation](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.draes.meta/draes/draes_group_membership.htm)
- [Takeaway: Tuning Group Membership for Performance](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.draes.meta/draes/draes_group_membership_takeaway.htm)
- [Group Membership Locking](https://developer.salesforce.com/docs/atlas.en-us.draes.meta/draes/draes_group_membership_locking.htm)

## About the full unit

The "Core concepts", "Exam traps" and "Worked scenario" sections of this unit, its 12 linked practice questions, and unlimited timed mock exams are included with the Platform Sharing and Visibility Architect pack (USD $19): https://www.certifyforce.com/practice-exams