Share and collaborate in shared drives

You can use this feature only if your organization supports it. For help, contact your administrator.

Want to use Google apps at work or school?  Sign up for a Google Workspace trial

Any files you put in a shared drive are automatically shared with members of the shared drive. Any member can also share files with people who aren’t members unless you restrict sharing.

In this section, you learn how to: Share files or folders Unshare files or folders Protect files or folders See or email members Track changes in a shared drive

Share files or folders

Requires at least Contributor access to share files; Manager access to share folders.

Just like in Drive, there are different ways to share files and folders in shared drives with people who aren't members of the shared drive.

Note: Your ability to share files might be limited by your organization. Ask your administrator for more information.

Share files and folders with individuals or groups:

1. Choose an option:
   • Select one file or folder you want to share.
   • Press and hold Shift and select multiple files or folders to share.
2. Click Share or Share .
3. In Add people and groups, enter the email address you want to share with. 
4. Choose what permission people will have on the file or folder. Click the Down arrow   Viewer, Commenter, or Editor for files; Viewer, Commenter, Contributor, or Content Manager for folders.
5. Choose to notify people.
   • If you want to notify people that you shared a doc with them, check the box next to Notify people. 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 box.
6. Click Send or Share.

Allow general access to a file:

You can choose if your file should be available to anyone or restricted to only the people with access. If you allow access to anyone with the link, your folder won't restrict who can access it.

1. Select the file you want to share.
2. Click Share or Share .
3. Under “General access”, click the Down arrow .
4. Choose who can access the file.

5. To decide what role people will have with your file, select Viewer, Commenter, or Editor.
   • Learn more about how others view, comment, or edit files.
6. Click Done.

Unshare files or folders

Unshare files or folders with your organization:

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

Unshare files or folders with individuals:

1. Find the file or folder in Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, or Google Slides.
2. Open or select the 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 access.
6. Click Save.

Note: Group settings can override individual settings. So, if you try to unshare a file or folder with a person who belongs to an organization or group with access to the file or folder, this person can still access the file or folder.

Protect files or folders

Protect all files or folders in a shared drive:

Requires Manager access

1. On the left, click the shared drive where you want to restrict sharing.
2. At the top, next to the shared drive name, click the Down arrow Shared drive settings.
3. Click Edit to set any of these permissions:
   • Sharing files with people outside of your organization
   • Sharing files with people in your organization who aren’t members of the shared drive
   • Allowing people with Commenter and Viewer access to download, copy, or print files
4. After you choose an option, click Apply.
5. Click Done.

The restrictions apply to all files and folders in the shared drive. 

Prevent people from downloading, printing, or copying a file:

People with edit access to your files can:

• Share the file with others.
• Add or remove people from the file.
• Change access permissions to the file.
• Copy, print, or download the file.

Important: You can't apply this setting to a folder, but you can apply it to individual files in the folder.

To prevent viewers and commenters from printing, copying, or downloading your file:

1. Find the file or folder in Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, or Google Slides.
2. Select one or more files you want to limit.
3. Click Share or Share .
4. At the top, click Settings .
5. Uncheck Viewers and commenters can see the option to download, print, and copy.

See or email members

See members of a shared drive:

1. On the left, click a shared drive.
2. Under the shared drive name, click the number of members.

Email members of a shared drive:

1. On the left, click a shared drive.
2. At the top, next to the shared drive name, click the Down arrow Email members.
3. Change the subject and enter your message.
4. (Optional) To only email members with specific access levels, or to send yourself a copy of the email, check the boxes.
5. Click Send.

A link to the shared drive is included in the email.

Track changes in a shared drive

For the latest updates in a shared drive, go to the Activity stream to see:

• Membership changes
• New or deleted files
• Changes to shared drive settings
• Who changed files and when

See recent activity for a shared drive:

1. Open Google Drive and on the left, select a shared drive.
2. At the top right, click View details .
3. Click Activity.

Related topics

• What are shared drives?
• How does file access work in shared drives?
• Shared drive limits
• Troubleshoot issues with shared drives

_{Google, Google Workspace, and related marks and logos are trademarks of Google LLC. All other company and product names are trademarks of the companies with which they are associated.}