Share a document and set access

A document is private to you until you share it. You can give specific people access, share with a whole team, or give anyone with the link the ability to view or edit. This article covers all three.

Open the Share dialog

There are two ways to open the Share dialog from inside Docs:

• Click the Share button (the person-with-plus icon) in the top-right of the toolbar.
• Open the File menu and choose Share.

The dialog title shows the document name: Share 'your document name'.

Share with specific people

1. Open the Share dialog.
2. Type a name or email address in the box at the top. Pick the person from the suggestions.
3. They appear under People with access as an Editor by default.
4. To change their access, open the dropdown next to their name and choose Editor (view and make changes) or Viewer (view only).
5. Click Save.

To remove someone later, open the same dialog, set their dropdown to Remove, and click Save.

Some people in the list may show "(inherited from /foldername)". They have access because the folder containing this document is already shared with them. Their access level can't be changed here. To change it, update the sharing on that folder in Drive.

Share with a team

If you belong to one or more teams, a Share with team button appears at the bottom left of the dialog. Click it and pick a team to give everyone in that team access.

Share with a link

Under General access, the document starts as Restricted, meaning only the people you have added can open it.

To share more widely, click the lock icon to switch it to Unrestricted. A dropdown appears next to the label where you can choose Can view or Can edit. Anyone signed in to Eigen who has the link can then open the document at that permission level.

To copy the link, click the link icon next to People with access.

Email your collaborators

After saving your changes, you can send everyone who has access a message with a link to the document.

1. Open the File menu and choose Email collaborators. (You can also click the envelope icon in the Share dialog's People with access section, but you must save any pending changes first.)
2. Fill in the Subject and write a Message.
3. Tick Send copy to self if you want a copy in your own inbox.
4. Click Send. A link to the document is included in the message automatically.

Control who can change sharing

If you own the document, you can stop editors from sharing it with others. In the Share dialog, look for the Editors can share checkbox near the bottom. When it is unchecked, only you can add or remove people. Editors can still work on the document but cannot change who else has access.

If sharing is restricted by the owner and you are not the owner, opening the Share dialog shows a read-only list of the people who have access. You cannot add or remove anyone.