Lesson 7 of 7 · About 4 minutes
Share with the right people and permissions
Learn the concept.
Sharing asks two separate questions: who can open this file, and what can they do with it? Set both deliberately before sending the link.
Right person. Right permission.
Watch Leo narrow a draft’s audience and give Sam only the access she needs.
Optional. Captions are shown in the video. Use full screen for a closer look. Illustrative screens; your service may look different.
Read the transcript and visual description
Leo: Sam only needs to read this.
Sam: Give me viewer access. Keep the link restricted.
Leo: Right person. Right permission.
On screen: A draft starts with Sam invited as Editor and Anyone with the link enabled. Leo changes Sam to Viewer, then changes link access to Restricted. Sam can read the draft; an uninvited viewer has no access through this link. A note explains that inherited access still needs a separate check.
Animated characters with synthetic voices.
Three checks before you share
Follow the decision from the situation to the result.
- Audience
Who may open it? Invite the intended recipient.
- Role
What may they do? Read-only fits a reading task.
- Other routes
Who already has access through a group or folder?
Read the visualSam only needs to read a private draft. Which sharing choice best fits?
A named recipient and a read-only role match this task. Review other access routes before assuming the file is private.
Choose the audience
Use named recipients or an appropriate restricted group when a file is meant for specific people. “Anyone with the link” broadens the audience to other link holders, including people who receive a forwarded link.
Choose the smallest useful role
Someone who only needs to read usually does not need editing access. Compare viewer, commenter, and editor roles with the task. Viewing access is not a promise that a recipient cannot copy the information.
Review effective access
Check existing people, groups, and parent-folder permissions as well as the link setting. In Google Drive, a folder’s inherited access can still apply to a file. Remove access when the task ends, following your team’s rules.
Put it in context
Leo wants Sam to read a draft. He keeps the link restricted, invites the correct Sam, and selects Viewer. Sending the same link in a busy group chat would not itself grant that group access. He still checks whether a parent folder already shares the file more widely.
Make a decision.
Use what you just learned. A correct answer lets you save this lesson to your progress.
Take this with you.
Match the audience and the role to the task. Check inherited access before sending the link.
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