After you share a file, you can stop sharing a file at any time. You can also prevent someone you’ve shared with from changing or sharing your file.
Stop sharing a file
Important:
- If you share a file with people, the owner or anyone with edit permissions can change the sharing settings for the file.
- If you don’t want anyone to publicly access your file, stop publishing the file.
- Open the homescreen for Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, or Google Slides.
- Select a file or folder.
- Click Share or Share
.
- Find the person you want to stop sharing with.
- To the right of their name, click the Down arrow
Remove.
- To save changes, click Save.
When you change a link’s setting to Restricted, the only people who can still see the file or folder are those you have directly shared with in the 'Share with people and groups' section.
- Open the homescreen for Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, or Google Slides.
- Open or select a file or folder.
- Click Share or Share
- Under “Get Link”, click the Down arrow
.
- Select Restricted.
- Click Done.
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 the file in your trash, and click 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
Limit how your files are shared
Don’t let people download, print, or copy your filePeople with edit permissions to your shared files can:
- Share a file with others.
- Add or remove specific people from 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:
- Open the homescreen for Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, or Google Slides.
- Select one or more files you want to limit.
- Click Share or Share
- At the top, click Settings
.
- Uncheck Viewers and commenters can see the option to download, print, and copy.
- Click Save
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.
If you’re sharing a file, the owner or anyone with edit permissions can change the sharing settings for the file. To make it so only you can share:
- Open the homescreen for Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, or Google Slides.
- Click Share or Share
- At the top, click Settings
- Uncheck Editors can change permissions and share.
- Click Done.
Important: If you prevent sharing of a folder, it only applies to the folder. To turn this on for the files inside, you have to change the settings for the files inside.
More options with Google Accounts through work or school
Give someone permissions to a file for a limited timeSet an expiration date for a file
- Open a file in Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, or Google Slides.
- Click Share
find the user you'd like to give temporary permissions to.
- If you haven't shared the file with that person yet, add the user's email and click Send or Share. At the top right of the document, click Share again.
- Next to the person's name, click the Down arrow
- Next to "Access expires," click a date to set as the expiration date. Choose a date within one year of the current date.
- Click Save.
Change share settings for Google Forms
Google Forms often have different sharing options than other kinds of files.