Share files from Google Drive

You can share the files and folders that you store in Google Drive with anyone.

When you share from Google Drive, you can control whether people can edit, comment on or only view the file. When you share content from Google Drive, the Google Drive programme policies apply.

In this article, you can learn about:

• Sharing basics
• Share with specific audiences
• Learn about advanced sharing options
• Learn about public sharing and collaboration
• Manage shared files

Understand sharing permissions

Important: The roles below apply to files in My Drive.

Permission level	Can view?	Can comment?	Can edit?	Can download?	Can share?	Can change permissions?
Viewer	Yes	No	No	Yes, by default. The owner can control it.	No	No
Commenter	Yes	Yes	No	Yes, by default. The owner can control it.	No	No
Editor	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes, but an editor can't change the owner.	No, unless the owner explicitly allows it.
Owner	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Tips when sharing a file with someone:

• To give viewers and commenters the option to download, print and copy a file:
  1. Owners must access advanced settings on their device.
  2. Click Share Settings .
• To give editors the option to change permissions and share a file:
  1. Owners must access advanced settings on their device.
  2. Click Share Settings .
• Editors can't change permissions for owners.
• For information on shared drive and permissions, visit:
  • Get started with shared drives
  • How file access works in shared drives

Sharing basics

Share a single file

Tip: If you open a document and there's a dot next to 'Share ', it means that you have a share request.

1. On a computer, go to Google Drive, Docs, Sheets or Slides.
2. Click the file that you want to share.
3. Click Share .

Share multiple files

1. On a computer, go to drive.google.com.
2. On your keyboard, hold Shift and select two or more files.
3. At the top left, click Share .

• Learn how to add files to a folder
• Learn how to share the entire folder
• Learn how to publish and share your form with responders
• Learn how to share your form with collaborators

Share with specific audiences

Important:

• At any time, a Google Docs, Sheets, Slides or Vids file can only be edited on up to 100 open tabs or devices. If there are more than 100 instances of the file open, only the owner and some users with edit permissions can edit the file.
• You can share a single file with up to 600 individual email addresses.

Share with specific people

Important: If you use a Google Account through work or school, you might not be able to share files outside your organisation.

1. On your computer, go to Google Drive.
2. Select the file that you want to share Share .
3. Enter the email address that you want to share with. If you use a work or school account, you can share with suggested recipients.
   • Tip: To turn off suggested recipients, go to your Drive settings . Untick 'Show suggested recipients in the sharing dialogue'.
4. Decide how people can use your file. Select one:
   • Viewer
   • Commenter
   • Editor
5. If you use an eligible work or school account, click Add expiry to add an expiry date.
6. When you share your file, each email address gets an email.
   • Optional: Add a message to your notification email.
   • If you don't want to notify people, untick the box.
7. Click Send or Share.

Tip: When updating permissions for an item that you're sharing from My Drive, if the person that you're sharing with does not already have permissions for the folder containing that item, you can choose to:

• Update permissions for the folder that contains that item
• Update permissions for only the item itself

Most users choose to update the folder that contains that item to make sharing and folder management easier.

Share with a Chat space

To share files with a Chat space, you can add the file that you want to share to that Chat space.

To add a Drive file to a Chat space:

Option 1:

1. On your computer, go to Google Chat.
2. Select the Chat space that you want to share the file with.
3. In the bottom left, click Integration menu Drive .
4. Select the file that you want to share with a Chat space.
5. Click Insert.

Option 2:

1. On your computer, go to Google Drive.
2. Right-click on the file that you want to share with a Chat space.
3. Click Share  Copy link .
4. Go to Google Chat.
5. Select the Chat space that you want to share the file with.
6. In the message field, paste the link that you have copied.

Tips:

• When you send a file to a Chat space, a prompt to grant access appears.
  • If you grant access to that Chat space, people who join the space later also gain access to the shared files.
• When people leave a Chat space, they lose access to the files in that Chat space if they don't have sharing access:
  • As an individual
  • As a member of another group
• To grant file access, you must have edit access on the file that you want to share.

Learn more about how others view, comment on or edit files.

Share with meeting attendees

You can share files with meeting attendees if you are a file owner or editor:

1. On your computer, go to Google Drive.

2. Select the file that you want to share.
3. Enter the meeting name that you want to share with.
4. Decide how people can use your file. Select one:
   • Viewer
   • Commenter
   • Editor
5. Choose whether the file is attached to the meeting invite.
6. When you share your file, each email address gets an email.
   • Optional: Add a message to your notification email.
   • If you don't want to notify people, untick the box.
7. Click Send or Share.

Learn about advanced sharing options

Add an expiry date

The expiry date feature is only available for eligible work or school accounts.

You're currently not signed in.

Sign in to your work or school account

Share a Vids file as an MP4

In Google Vids, you can save your video to Google Drive as an MP4, then share from Google Drive. To share a video as an MP4:

1. On your computer, go to Google Vids.
2. Open the file that you want to share.
3. Click Share .
4. Next to 'Share', click Quick sharing actions Export to Drive .

Learn about Google Vids availability.

Learn about public sharing and collaboration

Allow general access to the 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 that 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 on or edit files.
6. Click Done.

Share a file or folder publicly

1. Select the file that you want to share.
2. Click Share or Share .
3. Under 'General access' click the Down arrow .
4. Choose Anyone with the link.
5. To decide what role people will have, select Viewer, Commenter or Editor.
6. Click Copy link.
7. Click Done.
8. Paste the link in an email or any place where you want to share it.

People who aren't signed in to a Google Account show up as anonymous animals in your file. Learn more about anonymous animals.

Collaborate on your file

You can send an email directly from the Sharing dialogue to:

• Inform collaborators about major revisions.
• Discuss a question that's too long for the document's comment thread.

You can send the email to all of the collaborators or just a group of them, which includes editors, commenters and viewers.

To send an email from the Sharing dialogue of a file:

1. On your computer, go to Google Drive.
2. Next to the file that you want to send an email about, click More actions Share Share .
   • You can also go to the Sharing dialogue in the file itself:
     1. Open the file.
     2. At the top right, click Share.
3. In the Sharing dialogue, next to 'People with access', click Email people on this file .
4. In the 'Email collaborators' screen, select the groups that you want to send the email to.
5. In the 'Message' field, add your message.
6. Click Send.

Tip: You can't add new collaborators in the 'Email collaborators' screen.

Publish the file

Important: Google Vids doesn't have a publish option. Instead, you can download the file to your computer as an MP4. Learn how to create, view or download a file.

• If you need multiple people to open a file: publish the file, then create a link to share it with people who have access. You can give edit access to people who need to edit or comment on the file. Learn how to publish a file.
• Depending on your account's settings, publishing a file makes it visible to everyone on the web, everyone in your organisation or a group of people in your organisation. Be careful when publishing private or sensitive info.
  • Important: If you have an account through work or school, your administrator can limit who can access a published file. If you're an administrator, learn how to control who can publish documents to the web.
• To remove a file from the web, you must stop publishing it. Learn how to stop publishing a file.
• To stop sharing a file with collaborators, learn how to change sharing permissions.

Create a Google site

• Create a Google site to share information with many people. You can embed documents, spreadsheets and presentations on the site, which can be accessed by a large number of users. Learn how to embed documents on a site.
• If you anticipate high traffic to your site, first publish your document in Google Docs, Sheets or Slides, then embed the published URL into Google Sites. Learn how to publish a file.

Collect feedback with Google Forms

• If you need to gather a lot of information, create a Google Form. Responses will be recorded in a Google Sheet. Give edit access only to people who need to work with the responses. To let over 100 people open the responses, publish the spreadsheet to the web, then create a link to share it with those who have access. Learn how to publish a file.

Manage shared files

Fix problems with documents shared with many people

If your document is shared with many people and it's crashing or not updating quickly, try these troubleshooting tips:

• Instead of allowing people to comment on a document or spreadsheet, create a Google Form to collect feedback. Learn how to create a Google Form.
• If you're making a copy of a document, don't include resolved comments and suggestions. Learn how to make a copy.
• Delete older information or move data into a new document.
• Ask people with access to close the document when they aren't using it.
• Include only the most important information in a published document. Shorter documents load faster.
• Reduce the amount of people with edit access to a document.
• If collecting information from multiple documents, create a new, access-only document to share with a large number of people.

Change the general access for your file

You can allow broad access to your file. These options depend on whether you have a work, school or Gmail Google Account.

• Public: Anyone can search on Google and get access to your file, without signing in to their Google Account.
• Anyone with the link: Anyone who has the link can use your file, without signing in to their Google Account.

• Restricted: Only people with access can open the file.

Advanced sharing settings

Through advanced sharing settings, owners can prevent:

• Editors from changing permissions or sharing files.
• Viewers and commenters from downloading, printing or copying files.

Related resources

• Make Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and Forms public
• Stop or change how a file is shared
• Transfer file ownership
• Share folders in Google Drive
• Find files that are shared with you