You can share files and folders, control the sharing permission, and turn off link-sharing options on Google Drive. You can also unshare a Google Drive file or folder. Let’s dive deep to learn how to share and unshare the Google Drive folders and turn off the link-sharing option on Google Drive.
Table Of Contents
- How to share a folder in Google Drive?
- Share Google Drive folders and Notify People
- How to turn on the link visibility option to share with others?
- Allow anyone with a link to access Google Drive folders
- How to unshare Google Drive folder
- Stop Link Sharing to the Google Drive Folder
- How to turn off link sharing on Google Drive?
Sharing a Google Drive folder on Google Drive is simple. If you want to share a single Google Drive folder, you can select and share it. But what if you want to share a bulk of Google Drive folders?
To select a bulk of Google Drive folders for sharing,
- Select the first folder you want. Press and hold the shift key down.
- Similarly, select the last file you want. Release the shift key and ensure all selected files remain highlighted.
- You can also select multiple individual folders by holding the ‘Ctrl’ key and continuing to choose folders.
- Once you have selected the folders you want to share, click the “silhouette icon” at the top right of the Google Drive window.
- You can also right-click the document and select the ‘Share’ option from the menu.
- Once you click on the ‘Share’ option or ‘Share’ icon, the “Share with people and groups” window will appear.
Google Drive has “Visibility Options” that allow you to control who can view your Google Drive folders. The “Share” option gives you the freedom to choose to make your folders visible to certain individuals, anyone with a link to the document, or public on the web.
- The “Share with people and groups” window has two options for sharing Google Drive folders : You can either type the names of people from your contact list or the email addresses of people you wish to share the Google Drive folders with.
- You can add the names and email addresses of everyone you want to share the Google Drive folders with. You can also add a note to your collaborators in the Add a note field.
You can also notify the people you are sharing with by sending a message. Once you enter the email address, a screen will appear, allowing you to type and send your message.
Sharing folders in Google Drive is a bit different, and sharing permissions can get tricky. If you plan to share anything other than specific documents, it’s wise to understand how sharing in Google Drive works.
Once you’ve added people, Click the Send button in the lower left of the “Share with people and groups” window.
Google Drive ‘Share with people and groups’ screen lets you customize your link visibility options.
Activating the link-sharing option reduces your control over who can see the Google Drive folders. One of your reviewers could share the link with others, and those others would be able to access your Google Drive folders. However, you can define who can see your Google Drive folders.
The “Get link” option is set to ‘Restricted’ by default. Only people who have been added can open the Google Drive folders with this link.
You have complete control over how your Google Drive folders will be shared with the public. If you are the Google Drive folder owner, you can authorize other individuals to view or edit Google Drive folders and their files.
To change the Collaborator options, change the ‘restricted’ link to ‘Anyone with the link’.
Anyone With the Link
To give access to a large group of specific people, you can choose ‘Anyone with the link’ from the ‘Get Link’.This option assures anyone on the internet with this link can view. Anyone can view or edit your Google Drive folders.
Allow anyone with a link to access Google Drive folders
- Enabling the ‘Anyone with link’ option lets you share Google Drive folders and their files with non-Gmail users. People don’t need a Google account to view the Google Drive folders and their files; anyone who has a direct link can either view or edit your Google Drive folders and files.
- The viewer dropdown option is at the right corner of the “Share with People and Groups” screen. Click on the dropdown icon. You can choose from the Viewer and editor.
Select the Viewer option to allow others only to see your Google Drive folder.
The ‘Editor’ collaborator option allows others to edit your Google Drive folder and its files. Collaborators can work in your Google Drive folders simultaneously in real-time, so you can avoid sending emails for every change done.
You can unshare a Google Drive folder by following three different methods.
To unshare a Google Drive folder, you first must remove the people from sharing.
How to stop sharing Google Drive folder with specific people?
- Select the Google Drive folder you want to unshare with.
- Right-click on it and select the ‘Share’ option.
- The “Share with people and groups” screen will open.
- Move to the person’s name you want to stop sharing with.
- Click on the dropdown at the right end and select the “Remove” option.
- Repeat the step to remove all the collaborators of the shared Google Drive folder.
Stop Link Sharing to the Google Drive Folder
When you stop link sharing to a Google Drive folder or file, the only people who can still see it are you and the people whose names or email addresses you share with.
How to turn off link sharing on Google Drive?
If you turn on link-sharing options on Google Drive, anyone with edit permissions can change the sharing settings for the file. If you don’t want anyone to access your file publicly, you can turn off link sharing on Google Drive.
To turn off link sharing on Google Drive,
- Click on the “Share” icon. Once the “Share with people and groups” window opens, navigate to the “get link” section.
- Click on the “Anyone with the link” dropdown and select the “Restricted” option.
- Click done.
This will turn off link sharing on Google Drive.
You may also like following the articles below
- Remove myself from shared folder Google Drive
- Unable to change sharing settings Google Drive
- If I share a folder in Google Drive can they see my other folders
And voila! By following the above instructions, you can easily share and unshare your Google Drive folders and turn off link-sharing options.
I am Rajkishore, and I have over 14 years of experience in the Software Industry. For a long time, I have been using Google Docs, Google Drive, and Google Sheets for my document usage, and I am sharing all the tips and tricks, the challenges I have come across, and their solutions to use Google Docs for your day-to-day use. I hope you will learn from these practical Google Docs tutorials. Read more.