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After you share a file, you can stop sharing at any time. You can also control if people you've shared with can change or share your file.
Tip: When updating permissions for an item you're sharing from My Drive, if the person you're sharing with does not already have permissions for the folder that contains that item, you can choose to:
- Update permissions for the folder that contains that item.
- Update permissions only for the item itself.
To make it easier to manage folders and share, most users choose to update the folder that contains the item.
Stop sharing a file
Important:
- If you share a file with people, the owner and anyone with edit access can changesharing permissions and sharethe file.
- If you don’t want anyone to publicly access your file, stop publishing the file.
Find who has a access to a file
- On your computer, find the file or folder inGoogle Drive.
- To find out If a file or folder is shared:
- Right click the file or folder.
- On the right side of file, click More
. - Click File Information Details.
- A panel opens and shows who owns and has access to the file.
- If you have permission to make changes, click Manage access.
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Details.- Find the file or folder in Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, or Google Slides.
- Open or select the 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 access.
- Click Save.
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Restrict general access for a file or folder
When you change an item's general access to Restricted, only people with access can open the file.
- Find the file or folder inGoogle Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, or Google Slides.
- Open or select the file or folder.
- Click Share or ShareCopy link.
- Under “General access”, click the Down arrow .
- SelectRestricted.
- 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 fileFile Add to My Drive.
File Limit how your files are shared
Prevent people from downloading, printing, or copying your file
If you own a file, you can take steps so that viewers and commenters can’t print, copy, or download it:
- Find the file or folder in:
- Google Drive
- Google Docs
- Google Sheets
- Google Slides
- Select one or more files you want to limit.
- Click Share or Share .
- At the top, click Settings.
- Next to “Viewers and commenters can see the option to download, print, and copy,” uncheck the box.
.To prevent editors and owners from printing, copying, or downloading a file, administrators can create a DLP rule for Drive. If this setting is applied to a document, it changes the copy and paste functionality:
- Users can copy and paste document content within the document.
- Users can copy and paste outside content into the document.
- Users can’t copy and paste document content outside the document.
Tip: You can limit how people share, print, download, and copy within Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides. However, you can't stop how others share the file content in other ways.
Prevent others from sharing your files
If you’re sharing a file, the owner and anyone with editor access can change the permissions and share the file. To prevent others from sharing your file:
- Open the file inGoogle Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, or Google Slides.
- Click Share or Share.
- At the top, click Settings.
- UncheckEditors can change permissions and share.
Important: If you prevent sharing ofa folder, it only applies to the folder. To prevent sharing the files inside, you have to change this setting for the files inside.
More options with Google Accounts through work or school
Give someone permissions to a file for a limited time
Set an expiration date for a file
- Open a file inGoogle 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 Shareagain.
- Next to the person's name, click the Down arrow Add expiration.
- Next to "Access expires," click a date to set asthe 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.
- Share forms for people to fill out and submit
- Share forms for others to collaborate
Related resources
- Share files from Google Drive
- Transfer file ownership
- Share folders in Google Drive
- Find files shared with you
Need more help?
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