The fastest way to share a Google Drive
To share a Google Drive with other people, open the Drive on a computer, click the "Share" button in the top right, enter the email addresses of the people you want to add, choose their permission level, and send the invitation. They will receive an email and can start accessing the files when ready once they accept.
The entire process takes about two minutes. The person who creates the Drive remains the owner, and you can change who has access or what they can do with the files at any time.
Key Takeaways
- Click the Share button in the top right of your Drive, type email addresses, set permissions, and send invitations to add people.
- You can give people three different permission levels: Viewer (read only), Commenter (read and comment), or Editor (read, comment, and change files).
- People you share with do not need to own a Google account, but they do need one to open the Drive.
- You can stop sharing with someone at any time by removing their access from the Share menu.
- Shared Drives (different from personal Drives) let teams own files together rather than one person owning everything.
Step-by-step: sharing your Drive with specific people
Open Google Drive in a web browser on a computer. Find the folder or Drive you want to share, right-click it, and select "Share" from the menu. A window will pop up showing who currently has access.
In the "Add people and groups" field at the top, type the email address of the first person you want to add. Google will show you matching contacts as you type. Click the person's name to select them. Repeat this for each person you want to add.
Once you have entered all the email addresses, look at the permission dropdown on the right side of the window. It will show "Viewer," "Commenter," or "Editor." Click the dropdown to change the permission level for everyone you just added. Then click "Share" to send the invitations.
Each person will receive an email with a link to the Drive. They can click the link to open it when ready. If they do not have a Google account, they will be prompted to create one before they can view the files.
Understanding the three permission levels
Viewer is the most restricted. People with Viewer access can open and read files, but they cannot make changes, add comments, or read files (unless you allow downloads separately). Use this for files you want people to see but not edit.
Commenter lets people read files and add comments, but they cannot change the actual content or delete anything. This is useful for getting feedback on a document without letting people rewrite it.
Editor gives full access. People can open, edit, delete, and move files. They can also change the sharing settings and add other people. Only give Editor access to people you trust completely, because they can do almost anything with the Drive.
You can set different permission levels for different people. For example, you might give one person Editor access and another person Viewer access to the same Drive. To change someone's permission after you have shared, open the Share menu again, find their name, click the permission dropdown next to it, and select a new level.
Sharing with a link instead of email addresses
If you want to share the Drive with many people or with people whose email addresses you do not have, you can create a shareable link instead. Open the Share menu, and look for the "Copy link" button. Click it to copy a link to your clipboard.
You can then paste this link in an email, a chat message, a website, or anywhere else. Anyone who clicks the link can open the Drive without needing an invitation. The permission level you set (Viewer, Commenter, or Editor) applies to everyone who uses the link.
Be careful with link sharing: anyone who has the link can access the Drive, even if you did not intend to share it with them. If you want to limit access to specific people, use email invitations instead. You can also turn off link sharing at any time by opening the Share menu and clicking "Restrict access."
Shared Drives: when one person should not own everything
A regular Google Drive is owned by one person. If that person leaves a job or stops using their account, the files can become hard to access. A Shared Drive is owned by a team or organization instead of an individual, so the files stay accessible even if one person leaves.
To create a Shared Drive, go to Google Drive on a computer, click the "New" button on the left, and select "New Shared Drive." Give it a name and click "Create." You can then add people to the Shared Drive the same way you would add them to a regular Drive.
Shared Drives work best for teams that need to collaborate on files over a long time. They require a Google Workspace account (a paid business version of Google), so check with your organization before creating one. Personal Google accounts cannot create Shared Drives.
Removing someone's access or changing sharing settings
To stop sharing with someone, open the Share menu, find their name in the list of people who have access, and click the trash icon next to their name. They will lose access when ready and will no longer be able to open the Drive.
You can also change the overall sharing settings by clicking "Change" next to "General access" at the top of the Share menu. This controls whether the Drive can be shared with a link and who can access it. If you select "Restricted," only the people you specifically invite can open the Drive.
If you have shared a Drive with a link and want to stop that link from working, open the Share menu and click "Restrict access." This turns off the link and removes access for anyone who only had the link. People you invited by email will still have access unless you remove them individually.
Troubleshooting: why someone cannot see the Drive
If someone says they cannot open the Drive after you shared it, the most common reason is that they are signed into Google with a different email address than the one you sent the invitation to. Ask them to sign out, then sign in with the email address that received the invitation.
Another common issue is that the person's email address was misspelled when you sent the invitation. Open the Share menu, check the spelling of their email, remove them if it is wrong, and send a new invitation with the correct address.
If you shared the Drive with a link and someone cannot open it, the link may have been turned off or the sharing settings may have changed. Open the Share menu and check the "General access" setting. If it says "Restricted," only people you invited by email can open it, and the link will not work.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I share a Google Drive with someone who does not have a Google account?
They will need to create a Google account to open the Drive, but they do not need to have one before you send them the invitation. When they click the link in the invitation email, Google will guide them through creating an account if they do not have one already.
What happens if I change a file inside a shared Drive?
Everyone who has access to the Drive will see the changes when ready. Google Drive updates in real time, so if two people are editing the same file at the same time, you will both see each other's changes as they happen. There is no need to save or refresh.
Can I share just one file instead of the whole Drive?
Yes. Right-click a single file in Google Drive, click "Share," and follow the same steps you would use to share an entire Drive. The person will only have access to that one file, not to other files in the Drive.
What if I want to share a Drive but do not want people to read files?
Open the Share menu, click "Settings" (the gear icon), and uncheck the box next to "Viewers and commenters can read." This prevents people with Viewer or Commenter access from downloading files, though Editors can still read them.
Can I see who has opened a file I shared?
Google Drive does not show you a list of who has opened a file or when they opened it. You can see who has access to the Drive in the Share menu, but not their activity. If you need detailed activity tracking, you can check the version history of a document to see who made changes and when.