Sharing files & folders in Drive

How to share Google Drive files and folders — choosing who can view, comment, or edit, and how to share with people outside your organization.

Sharing files in Google Drive is one of its most useful features. You can share a file with one person, a whole team, or anyone with a link — and you choose exactly what they can do with it.

Quick summary

Right-click any file or folder and choose Share. Type someone's email address to share with them directly, or create a shareable link. Choose whether people can view, comment, or edit. You can change or remove access at any time.

Permission levels explained

Before you share, understand what each permission level means:

Permission	What they can do
Viewer	See the file. Can't change anything. They can download it by default, though the owner can turn that off.
Commenter	See the file and add comments. Can't edit.
Editor	See, comment, and edit the file.
Owner	Full control, including deleting and changing permissions. You're the owner of files you create.

Use the most restrictive permission that still lets the person do their job.

Right-click the file or folder in Drive, or open the file and click the Share button in the top right.

Type the person's email address into the sharing box. You can add more than one person.

Choose their permission level from the dropdown next to their name (Viewer, Commenter, or Editor).

Optionally add a message to let them know why you're sharing.

Click Send. They'll receive an email notification with a link to the file.

If you're on a work or school account, your admin may have limited sharing outside your organization — so some addresses won't be accepted.

If you want to share a file without entering someone's email — for example, to post in a chat or send by text — create a shareable link.

Right-click the file and click Share, or use the Share button.

Under "General access", click the down arrow and choose Anyone with the link.

Choose the permission level for link viewers (Viewer, Commenter, or Editor).

Click Copy link, then Done, and share the link wherever you need to.

Be careful with 'Anyone with the link'

When you share with a link and set access to "Anyone with the link," anyone who has that link — even someone who wasn't supposed to have it — can access the file. For sensitive documents, stick to sharing with specific email addresses.

You can share an entire folder, which gives access to everything inside it — now and in the future. This is handy for project folders or client folders.

The process is the same as sharing a file — right-click the folder and choose Share.

Files in a shared folder inherit permissions

Files and folders inside a shared folder always inherit its permissions, so you don't need to share each file individually. This also works the other way round: you can't give someone less access to a single file than they already have to the folder it sits in. If one document needs tighter access, put it in a subfolder and share that subfolder with fewer people.

Changing or removing access

Right-click the file and choose Share.

Find the person whose access you want to change.

Click the dropdown next to their name and choose a new permission level, or choose Remove access to revoke access completely.

Click Save.

Seeing who has access

Open the Share dialog on any file to see a list of everyone who currently has access and their permission level.

Common questions

Yes, using link sharing. Set general access to "Anyone with the link" and send them the link — anyone who has it can open the file without signing in to a Google account. People who aren't signed in show up in the file as anonymous animals, so you won't know who they are.

Yes. Open Share, click the gear icon at the top, and uncheck Editors can change permissions and share. Note that this only stops people sharing that file. If it lives in a shared folder, anyone who can share the folder can still give someone access that way — the folder's permissions are the ones that count.

Can I set an expiry date on file access?

On an eligible work or school account, yes. In the Share dialog, click the down arrow next to the person's name, choose Add expiration, then pick a date — it has to be within a year of today.

Shared drives are team-owned storage where the organization — not an individual — owns the files. Files in a shared drive don't disappear when someone leaves. See Shared drives explained for more.

Need a hand?

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