Google Docs is a powerful tool that lets you invite collaborators, control document permissions, and discuss your documents through shared comments. Sharing and simultaneous collaboration are huge benefits of working on Google Docs. Google Docs makes it simple to share and collaborate on documents. Let’s dive deep to know how to share Google Docs with others and non-Gmail users.
Along with this, we will also discuss the below topics
- Allow anyone with link to edit your document
- Sharing to email addresses without a Google account is not yet supported
- Can non-Google users edit Google Docs?
Table Of Contents
If you have created a file in Google Docs, it is common to share it with another Google Account user. But what if the user doesn’t have a Google Account?
can you edit a shared google doc without a Gmail account?
You can’t edit a shared Google Docs file without a Gmail account. But there are some ways to handle this situation.
Email the Google Docs file to the user as an attachment
- The best way to share your Google Docs file with a non-Gmail user is by sending it via ‘Email as attachment’. To do this,
- Open your Google Docs document and find ‘File’ in the top left of the document.
- Click File > ‘Email as attachment’.
- A dialog screen will appear that allows you to choose a file format and type in the recipient’s email address. Your Google Docs file will be sent via email as an attachment in the format you choose.
- It is an easy way to share files as HTML, PDF, Rich Text, or Microsoft Word. But you cannot collaborate with the recipient online.
Allow anyone with link to edit your document
- Enabling the ‘Anyone with link’ option lets you share Google Docs documents to non-Gmail users. People don’t need a Google account to view the Google Docs file, just anyone who has a direct link can either view or edit your Google Docs document.
- The key benefit of this method is that people who do not have a Google account can edit the document without having to log in to the Google account.
Google Account
Instead of being required to have a Gmail account to view the shared Google Docs document, users only need a Google account. This allows users to access Google Docs easily.
Publishing to Web
One of the best options to share Google Docs with non-Gmail users is publishing your Google Docs document to the Web. Any Google Docs document you create can be easily published as any other webpage on the internet. Then you simply share the web address to non-Gmail users. This method does not require access to Gmail or even a Google account to view your Google Docs document.
To do this,
- Click File > Publish to the web
- This opens a dialog screen that asks you to choose to publish as a link or embed.
- Select any one option and click ‘Publish’.
- This will make your content visible to anyone by publishing it on the web.
Well, if you want to access Google Docs shared via link to an outlook email address, You should enable the ‘Anyone with link’ option.
Follow the below steps
- Open the Google Docs document and click on the Share button.
2. Click on the Get link –> Choose Anyone with the link –> Choose Viewer or commenter or Editor based on your need and then click on the Copy link option –> click Done.
3. The link we have copied can be shared to an outlook Email address or any non-Gmail user and when he/she will try accessing the link from outlook or non-Gmail, he can able to access the document.
Sharing to email addresses without a Google account is not yet supported
If you don’t have a Google account or Gmail email address, nothing to worry about, you can still share your Google Docs with a non-Google account user or non-Gmail user.
You just need to use the Anyone with the link option under the Get link section on the Share with people and groups window. Copy that link using the Copy link option and share it with the Non-Google account user.
Refer to the above section for the complete steps.
Can non-Google users edit Google docs?
Yes, non-Google users or users who don’t have a Google account can also able to edit Google Docs.
It all depends on which option you have selected for the visibility of your Google Docs document.
- Open the Google Docs document and click on the “Share” button from the top right corner.
- Select the “Anyone with the link” option under the “Get link” section and make sure to select the “Editor” option on the “Share with people and groups” window. Copy that link using the Copy link option and share it with non-Google users.
3. Now, the non-Google user can able to edit the document by clicking on the document link that you have provided.
You may also like following the below Google Docs articles
- How to Share Google Docs with others?
- How to add header and footer in Google Docs (remove Google docs header and footer)
- Popular Google Docs add ons
- How to make google docs read aloud
- How to lock or protect Google docs with password
- Google Docs Commenter vs Editor
And voila! It’s a cinch to share Google Docs with others and non-Gmail users. Just follow the above-mentioned methods.