Stop, limit or change sharing

               

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After you share a file, you can stop sharing at any time. You can also control if people that you've shared with can change or share your file.

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.

Stop sharing a file

Important:

• If you share a file with people, the owner and anyone with edit access can change sharing permissions and share the file.
• If you don't want anyone to publicly access your file, stop publishing the file.

Find who has access to a file

1. On your computer, find the file or folder in Google Drive
2. To find out if a file or folder is shared:
   • Right-click the file or folder.
   • On the right side of the file, click More .
   • Click File information Details.
3. A panel opens and shows who owns and has access to the file.
4. If you have permission to make changes, click Manage access.

Stop sharing a file or folder

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.

Restrict general access for a file or folder

When you change an item's general access to 'Restricted', only people with access can open the file.

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   Copy link .
4. Under 'General access', click the down arrow .
5. Select Restricted.
6. Click Done.

Delete a shared file

If you delete a shared file that you own:

• People that can view, comment or edit can make a copy of the file until you permanently delete it.
• To permanently delete the file, click on the file in your bin, and then select Delete forever . Learn more about deleting files.

If you delete a shared file that you don’t own:

• The file will be removed from your Drive, but other collaborators can still access it.
• To get the file back, open a link to the file  File Add to My Drive.

Limit how your files are shared

Prevent people from downloading, printing or copying your 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 that you want to limit.
3. Click Share or Share .
4. At the top, click Settings .
5. Untick Viewers and commenters can see the option to download, print and copy.

Important: You can limit how people share, print, download and copy within Google Drive, Docs, Sheets and Slides, but you can't stop how others share the file content in other ways.

Prevent others from sharing your files

If you're sharing a file, the owner and anyone with editor access can change the permissions and share the file. To prevent others from sharing your file:

1. Open the file in Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets or Google Slides.
2. Click Share or Share .
3. At the top, click Settings .
4. Untick Editors can change permissions and share.

Important: If you prevent sharing of a folder, it only applies to the folder. To prevent sharing the files inside, you have to change this setting for the files inside.

More options with work or school Google Accounts

Give someone permissions to a file for a limited time

Set an expiry date for a file

1. Open a file in Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets or Google Slides.
2. Click Share  find the user that you'd like to give temporary permissions to.
   • If you haven't shared the file with that person yet, add the user's email address and click Send or Share. At the top right of the document, click Share again.
3. Next to the person's name, click the down arrow   Add expiry.
4. Next to 'Access expires', click a date to set as the expiry date. Choose a date within one year of the current date.
5. Click Save.

Change share settings for Google Forms

Google Forms often have different sharing options from other kinds of files.

• Share forms for people to fill out and submit
• Share forms for others to collaborate

Related articles

• Share files from Google Drive
• Transfer file ownership
• Share folders in Google Drive
• Find files that are shared with you