How it works in a data room
The administrator invites an outside person by email and assigns them to a group with defined rights. Guests typically cannot see the full user list, invite others, change permissions or view the audit trail. Their first login may require accepting an NDA click-through and setting up a second factor. Many rooms also let administrators hide the folder tree outside a guest’s permissions, so a bidder does not even learn which other sections exist.
Why it matters in a deal
Most people in a sale room are guests: bidders, their lawyers, accountants and lenders. A clear guest role keeps them productive without letting them alter structure or see who else is in the process. It also affects cost, because some pricing models charge differently for internal administrators and outside viewers. Check whether a provider counts guests toward a user cap before comparing quotes on our VDR pricing page.
Example
A real estate fund selling a logistics portfolio invites eight bidders, each with four or five advisers. All of them join as guests in bidder-specific groups. One bidder’s lender later needs access to the leases only; the administrator adds the lender as a guest to a narrower group with view-only rights and a 30-day expiry. The real estate guide covers portfolio sale rooms.