Here’s what people can do with folders after you share it with them:
- Can organize, add, & edit: If they're signed into a Google account, people can open, edit, delete, or move any files within the folder. People can also add files to the folder.
- Can view only: People can see the folder and they can open all files within the folder.
More about folder sharing:
- If you share or unshare folders with a lot of files or subfolders, it might take time before all permissions change. If you change a lot of edit or view permissions at once, it might take time before you see the changes.
Tip: In the meantime, to provide folder access for new collaborators, use the Sharing URL of a file nested deeply inside the folder.
- Storage is counted against the person who uploaded the file, not the owner of the folder.
- When you manage large folder structures, child and parent folder permissions can be different. You can override inherited permissions of child folders to be different than the parent folder. You can also remove parent permissions from a child folder.
Choose who to share with
Like files, you can choose to share with only specific people.
- On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
- Click the folder you want to share.
- Click Share
.
- Under "People," type the email address or Google Group you want to share with.
- To choose how a person can use the folder, click the Down arrow
.
- Click Send. An email is sent to people you shared with.
You can give other people a link to your folder so that you don't have to add email addresses when you share your folder.
- On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
- Click the folder you want to share.
- Click Share
- At the top right, click Get shareable link.
- Next to "Anyone with the link," click the Down arrow
- Choose whether people can edit or view.
- Copy and paste the link in an email or any place you want to share it.
Share with a Google Group
You can share files and folders with Google Groups instead of individual people. When you add to or remove members from the group, they will gain or lose permission to the files and folders that the group can see or use.
- Create a Google Group.
- Add members to the group.
- Share the file or folder with the group.
Note: Group members will have to open the file or folder from an invitation or a link before it will appear in "Shared with me."
Change sharing permissions of shared folders
When you share a folder, the sharing settings for the files and subfolders inside are updated. Depending on how you shared the folder, the people you shared with will have access to the files inside:
- Can organize, add, & edit: People can open, edit, delete, or move any files within the folder. People can also add files to the folder.
- Can view only: People can see the folder and they can open all files within the folder.
After you share the folder, you can change how the files inside are shared.
When you transfer ownership of a folder, the files inside keep their original owner. To change the owners of more than one folder:
- On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
- Select the folder that you want to change owners.
- To select multiple folders, hold Shift and click the folders you want.
- At the top right, click Share
- Click Advanced.
- To the right of the person’s name, click the Down arrow
- Click Is owner.
- Click Save changes.
After you make someone else the owner of a folder, you can edit the folder unless the new owner decides to change your access.
When someone deletes a file from a shared folder, only the owner can access it.
To get a deleted file back from a shared folder:
- On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
- At the top, click Search Drive.
- Type in the name of the file.
- Right-click the file.
- Click Add to my Drive
.
