How to change default permission level choice when share a document?

Question

We are using SP2013 on-premise. On a site collection there is a document library. There are several users with "Manage Permission" permission. Based on their need, they will change the permission on individual documents (permission inheritance is broken).

However, when they try to share the document to other users, the default permission level choice is always "contribute". Can we change the default choice to be "read only" and the "send email invitation" always off? It is because the permission level part is always hided. User need to click the "SHOW OPTIONS" to see the level choice. Users may grant the contribute permission level by mistake (and send email out).

Answer 1

The alternative to the solution above is to use JS to set the default value. Add the flowing code block to the header section of your masterpage:

<script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.10.2.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
$(document).ready(function () { 
    $("#ctl00_PlaceHolderMain_DdlSimplifiedRoles").val("role:1073741826");
    $("#ctl00_PlaceHolderMain_DdlGroup").val("role:1073741826");
})
</script>

Answer 2

When you click on the "SHOW OPTIONS", SharePoint shows a drop down that contains Groups and Permission levels in sorted order.

The default permission in Invite people to 'xxx' is the permission of the first group/permission level.

I resolved this issue by creating a "_View Only" group. The underscore ensured that the group is first in the sorted order. You may use any other name, just ensure it is the first group listed.