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 program policies apply.
Step 1: Find the file you want to share
Share a single file
- On a computer, go to Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, or Slides.
- Click the file you want to share.
- Click Share or Share
.
- On a computer, go to drive.google.com.
- On your keyboard, hold Shift and select two or more files.
- At the top right, click Share
Learn how to add files to a folder and share the entire folder.
Google Forms have different sharing options than other kinds of files.
Step 2: Choose who to share with & how they can use your file
Share with specific people
- Select the file you want to share.
- Click Share or Share
- Under "Share with people and groups," enter the email address you want to share with.
- To change what people can do to your doc, on the right, click the Down arrow
Viewer, Commenter, or Editor.
- 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.
- Click Share or Send.
You can send other people a link to your file so anyone with the link can use it. When you share a link to a file, your name and your email will be visible as the owner of the file.
- Select the file you want to share.
- Click Share or Share
- Under “Get Link”, click the Down arrow
.
- Choose who to share the file with.
- To decide what people can do with your file when you share it, select Viewer, Commenter, or Editor.
- Click Copy link
- Copy and paste the link in an email or any place you want to share it.
- Select the file you want to share.
- Click Share or Share
- Under “Get Link,” click Change to anyone with link.
- To decide what people can do with your public link when you share it, select Viewer, Commenter, or Editor.
- Click Done.
- Copy and paste the link in an email or any place 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.
Share & collaborate on a file with more than 100 people
Up to 100 people with view, edit, or comment permissions can work on a Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides file at the same time. When more than 100 people are accessing a file, only the owner and some users with editing permissions can edit the file.
To share and collaborate on a file with more than 100 people:
Publish the file
- If you need many people to view a file at once, publish it and create a link to share to viewers. You can give edit access to people who need to edit or comment on the file. Learn how to publish a file.
- Publishing a file makes it visible to everyone on the web. Be careful when publishing private or sensitive info. If you have an account through work or school, your administrator can limit who can view 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 viewed by a large amount 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 more than 100 people view the responses, publish the spreadsheet to the web and create a link to share with viewers. Learn how to publish a file.
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 viewers 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, view-only document to share with a large number of people.
Limit how a file is shared
Choose if people can view, comment, or editWhen you share a file with someone, you can choose what they can do with it.
- Viewer: People can view, but can’t change or share the file with others.
- Commenter: People can make comments and suggestions, but can’t change or share the file with others.
- Editor: People can make changes, accept or reject suggestions, and share the file with others.
When you share a link to a file, you control how widely the file is shared. These options depend on if your Google Account is through work, school, or Gmail.
- 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 you share the file with will be able to use it.
