3. Share and collaborate on files

Want to get more out of Google apps at work or school?  Sign up for a free Google Workspace trial

Share documents, spreadsheets, or presentations with individuals or large groups of people. You can share with people inside or outside your organization. People can make changes at the same time, and you can see changes as they happen. You can share with people who aren't on Google Workspace, too.

In this section, you learn how to: 3.1 Share files in Drive, Docs, Sheets, or Slides 3.2 Unshare files in Drive, Docs, Sheets, or Slides 3.3 Add comments and replies in Docs, Sheets, or Slides 3.4 Suggest edits in Docs 3.5 Chat with people directly in Docs, Sheets, or Slides

3.1 Share files in Drive, Docs, Sheets, or Slides

Note: Sharing options vary by group size:

• Up to 100:  You can let up to 100 people with view, edit, or comment permissions work on a Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides file at the same time. 
• 100 or more: When 100 people or more are accessing a file, only the owner and some users with editing permissions can edit the file. To let more than 100 people view or edit your file at the same time, publish it as a web page instead.

Share a file or folder with specific people:

1. Select the file you want to share.
2. Click Share or Share .
3. Under Share with people and groups, enter the email address you want to share with.

   Note: If visitor sharing is on for your organization, you can invite someone who doesn't have a Google Account to collaborate on your Google Drive files and folders. See Share documents with visitors.

4. To change what people can do to your file, on the right, click the Down arrow Viewer, Commenter, or Editor.
5. Choose to notify people:
   • If you want to notify people that you shared a file with them, check the Notify people box. If you notify people, each email address you enter will be included in the email.
   • If you don't want to notify people, uncheck the Notify people box.
6. Click Share or Send.

Share a link to a file or folder:

1. In Drive, right-click the file or folder you want to share and select Share .

   In Docs, Sheets, or Slides, at the top, click Share.

   Note: You can only share files that you own or have edit access to.

2. (Optional) To specify what people can do with your file when you share it, under your organization name, click Change:
   • To change the permission, at right, click the Down arrow  and select Viewer, Commenter, or Editor.
   • To allow sharing the link outside of your organization, next to your organization name, click the Down arrow Public.

     Note: If you don't see this option, contact your administrator.

3. Click Copy link.
4. Click Done.
5. Paste the link in an email, on a website, or wherever you need to share it.

3.2 Unshare files in Drive, Docs, Sheets, or Slides

Stop sharing a file or folder you own:

1. Open the homescreen for Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, or Google Slides.
2. Select a file or folder.
3. Click Share or Share .
4. Find the person you want to stop sharing with.
5. To the right of their name, click the Down arrow   Remove.
6. To save changes, click Save.

Remove a link to a file or folder you own:

1. Open the homescreen for Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, or Google Slides.
2. Open or select a file or folder.
3. Click Share or Share   Get link,
4. Under “Get Link”,  click the Down arrow .
5. Select Restricted.
6. Click Done.

 

3.3 Add comments and replies in Docs, Sheets, or Slides

1. In Docs, Sheets, or Slides, select the text you'd like to comment on.
2. Click Add comment .
3. Enter your comment in the box.
4. (Optional) To direct your task or comment to a specific person, enter a plus sign (+) followed by their email address. You can add as many people as you want. Each person will get an email with your comment and a link to the file.
5. (Optional) To assign the comment to a specific person, check the Assign to box.
6. Click Comment or Assign.

Note: If a file reaches the maximum number of comments, you can make a copy of the file without copying over any comments.

3.4 Suggest edits in Docs

Note: This feature is only available in Google Docs.

In Docs, you can also propose changes directly in the document without editing the text by suggesting an edit. Your suggestions won’t change the original text until the document owner approves them. You must have edit or comment access to the document to suggest changes.

	In the top corner, make sure you’re in Suggesting mode, which may also appear as .
	To suggest an edit, simply begin typing where you think the edit should be made in the document. Your suggestions appear in a new color, and text you mark to delete or replace is crossed out (but not actually deleted until the document owner approves the suggestion).
	The document’s owner will receive an email with your suggestions. When they click any suggestion, they can Accept or Reject it.

3.5 Chat with people directly in Docs, Sheets, or Slides

You can collaborate within documents, spreadsheets, or presentations over chat, too. If more than one person has your file open, just click Show chat  to open a group chat. You can get instant feedback without ever leaving your file.