Google Drive Link Sharing Not Working

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Google Drive Link Sharing Not Working

You might be exhausted from trying to open the shared Google Drive link for a while. Still, the shared Google Drive link is not working? No worries! I’m here to help you. 

In this article, I’ll shed some light on why your Google Drive link sharing is not working and how to resolve it. 

Why use Google Drive link sharing?

Google Drive empowers anyone with a Google account to upload and store any files on a remote Google server so that you can access them provided the device meets system and internet connectivity requirements. It is free to sign up and create an account on Google.

You are in a situation where you are required to work in groups, share files and folders and associate with others as a part of your work. It is tiresome to send your file to your team after every other update.

When you store your files into drive and work, It would reduce all the headaches when you work and update a file that is on a remote server as others with links to the file can access and collaborate with you.

Now we will see various reasons that arise “Google Drive link sharing” not working, along with solutions to fix them.

3 Reasons that might affect the Google Drive link sharing:

Below are some of the reasons your Google Drive link sharing is not working. 

  • File Existence
  • File Prevailance
  • Sharing Permissions
  • Internet Connectivity

Let’s explore each of the above points in detail.

Does this file exist on Google Drive? 

You are sharing a link to a file that has been deleted from your Google Drive and the users trying to access it are not able to access it. This may be because of non-existence or they may get bumped. So, please ensure your file is present on Google Drive at first. If you have deleted it, please upload the file and share the link of the file again with your users.

Does your file prevail in the shared folder?

You shared an entire folder on your drive and they are suddenly unable to access a file.  As seen in the above reason, the file has to exist before you can access it, and please make sure that you have placed your file inside the shared folder on your Google Drive and if not, please add your file inside the folder using the “New +” option that gets displayed after a right-click on your mouse.

Have you turned on link sharing in Google Drive? Why is the Google drive link not working?

You have shared the link of your file on Google Drive and it is not working for users. Make sure that you have turned on link sharing for the file you shared. Following are the steps to check and how to turn on Google Drive link sharing. 

How do I turn on Google Drive link sharing in Google Drive?

Step 1: Navigate to the file or the folder that you are sharing on your Google drive.  

Step 2: Right-click on the file if you are accessing it from the computer or tap “⋮“ present at the bottom right of the file to show multiple actions that you can perform.  

Step 3: Select “👤+ Share” to open the “Share with people and groups” card window. Then, under the “Get Link” tab, if it shows “Restricted,” please press the “Change” button.  

Step 4: Click the dropdown “Restricted,” It shows the list having the “Anyone with the link” option.  Select “Anyone with the link option,” and you are done. 

Note: In Step 4, You can also customize the access privileges to your files on the Drive by assigning them any one of the privileges such as “Viewer”, “Commenter” or “Editor”.

  • Users with “Viewer” privileges can view the file shared but they can’t change or share the file.
  • Commenters can add suggestions but they too can’t change or share the file.
  • Users assigned “Editor” privileges are the people capable of making changes on the file shared.  They can also accept or reject suggestions and share the file with others by adding the mail ids’ to the list of shared users.

Clearly, if you want your file to undergo modifications and improvement, you can assign them the “Editor” privilege. But there are prospects where you only want them to just view or in addition to viewing, can also make suggestions. Authorize them with “Viewer” and “Commenter” privilege access respectively.

With this option, you can ensure either anyone with a link or only the shared users can access the file or folder that you have shared.

Do you have proper internet connectivity?

You have shared a document on Google Drive and if you are unable to access the document please make sure that you are connected to the internet. Sounds simple and funny, but without a seamless internet connection to your device, you may not be able to open the file with the shared link, and get an error message as the file is on a remote server.  Sometimes, the file may be very big in size and you are required to have good connectivity. 

Google Drive link not opening in app? Are you using the latest version of the Google Drive mobile application?

Ascertain if you are using the latest version and if not, update the Google Drive mobile application and try opening the file again. If the problem still persists, please uninstall the application and install it again.

Even after deleting the application and reinstalling, if not working, and if there is more than one Google account that is in use on the mobile device, please make sure that the avatar of the account, to which the file is shared, is displayed in the upper right-hand corner. Because sometimes, the link may be restricted with purpose, and only the shared accounts can be able to access the file/folder.

Google Drive link not working on the computer?  

If you are unable to access the file on Google Drive shared by others with you on the computer, follow the below steps.

Step 1: Weak internet connectivity is a common cause of many connectivity errors on computers. Ensure your computer is equipped with stable internet connectivity. 

Step 2: Clear your browser cache and try loading the shared file again as sometimes, the caches stored on your browser restrict you from accessing and opening the shared document by trying loading the cached version.  

Step 3: Also please check your browser version and if it’s an old one, please install the latest updated browser application as browser versions that arrived early may be preventing you from accessing it.

Step 4: You can also try opening the shared Google Drive link in different web browsers such as Firefox, Internet Explorer or Safari and see you get to access the shared file/folder.

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We hope this article showed light on the causes of the “Google Drive link sharing not working” problem on mobile devices and computers. Go, fix your issue and enjoy your day.