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How to Share Files in Google Drive (and with people outside of our school district)

Modified on: Thu, 3 Apr 2025 9:23 AM
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Keywords: Share, Files, Google Drive, outside, outside of our school district, people, groups, share link, share publicly

Aliases: Drive, Google, Google Drive, G-Drive


Share with specific people

  1. Select the file you want to share.
  2. Click Share or Share Share.
  3. Under "Share with people and groups," enter the email address you want to share with. 
  4. To change what people can do to your doc, on the right, click the Down arrow Down and then Viewer, Commenter, or Editor.
  5. Choose to notify people.
    • If you want to notify people that you shared a doc with them, check the box next to Notify people. If you notify people, each email address you enter will be included in the email.
    • If you don't want to notify people, uncheck the box.
  6. Click Share or Send.

Share Link to File

You can send other people a link to your file so anyone with the link can use it. When you share a link to a file, your name will be visible as the owner of the file.

  1. Select the file you want to share.
  2. Click Share or Share Share and then Get link.
  3. Under “Get Link”, click the Down arrow Down.
  4. Choose who to share the file with.

Tip: If you use your Google account for work or school, you can choose to only share files and folders with a specific audience, like your department. You might see a description of each audience when you hover over the the group name.

  1. To decide what people can do with your file when you share it, select Viewer, Commenter, or Editor.
  2. Click Copy link and then Done.
  3. Copy and paste the link in an email or any place you want to share it.


Share a File Publicly

  1. Select the file you want to share.
  2. Click Share or Share Share and then Get link.
  3. Under “Get Link,” click Change to anyone with link.  
  4. To decide what people can do with your public link when you share it, select Viewer, Commenter, or Editor.                                                                          
  5. Click Done.
  6. Copy and paste the link in an email or any place you want to share it.                                                                                                                                              

People who aren't signed in to a Google Account show up as anonymous animals in your file. Learn more about anonymous animals.

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