How to Share a Folder in Google Drive (2026 Guide)
Sharing a folder in Google Drive is the fastest way to give a teammate, client, or contractor access to a whole project at once, anything you drop into the folder later inherits the same permissions. The 2026 Drive UI splits the Share dialog into two sections: specific people you’ve invited, and a separate General access control for link sharing. Here’s how to use both.
1. Share With Specific People
This is the safest option, only the people you invite can open the folder, and you can pick exactly what each person can do.
- Go to drive.google.com and sign in.
- Find the folder, right-click it, and select Share > Share. (You can also click the folder once and hit the Share icon in the top toolbar.)
- In the Add people, groups, and calendar events field, type one or more email addresses. Google suggests contacts as you type.
- Click the role dropdown to the right of the names and pick one:
- Viewer: can open files inside the folder and download them.
- Commenter: can also leave comments on Docs, Sheets, and Slides.
- Editor: can add, edit, move, and delete files, plus share the folder with others.
- Leave Notify people checked if you want Google to email them with a link. Add a short message in the box if you want.
- Click Send (or Share if Notify is off).
People you’ve invited see the folder under Shared with me in their Drive. You can share a single file or folder with up to 600 individual email addresses. If you need to share with more, use a Google Group as the recipient, the group counts as one address.
Change or remove access
- Right-click the folder and pick Share > Share.
- Find the person under People with access.
- Click their role dropdown to change the role, or pick Remove access to revoke entirely.
- Click Save.
2. Share With a Link (General Access)
When you need anyone with a URL to open the folder, without entering their email, switch the General access setting.
- Right-click the folder and select Share > Share.
- Scroll to the General access section near the bottom of the dialog.
- Click the dropdown that currently says Restricted and pick:
- Restricted: only people you’ve explicitly added can open the folder.
- Anyone with the link: anyone holding the URL can open it without signing in.
- If you switched to Anyone with the link, choose the role on the right (Viewer, Commenter, or Editor).
- Click Copy link to grab the URL.
- Click Done.
Paste the link into an email, Slack message, or document. Anyone who receives it can open the folder at the level you picked.
Heads up: “Anyone with the link” means exactly that, anyone the link reaches. If a Viewer forwards the URL to someone outside the team, that person can also open the folder. For sensitive material, stick with Restricted.
Workspace admin sharing limits
If you’re on a Google Workspace plan, your admin may have disabled “Anyone with the link” for external sharing, or restricted sharing to specific allowed domains. If the dropdown is grayed out or shows fewer options, that’s why, your admin set the policy in the Admin console under Apps > Google Workspace > Drive and Docs > Sharing settings.
3. Expiration Dates and Other Workspace Controls
On eligible Google Workspace plans (Business Standard and up, plus Education and Enterprise tiers), you can put a clock on access.
Set an expiration date
- Open the Share dialog and find the person under People with access.
- Click their role dropdown.
- Pick Add expiration.
- Choose a date, up to one year from today.
- Click Save.
Access is automatically removed when the expiration date hits. The person doesn’t get a warning email; the folder simply disappears from their Shared with me view.
Restrict downloads, printing, and copying
- In the Share dialog, click the gear icon in the top right.
- Uncheck Viewers and commenters can see the option to download, print, and copy.
- Click the back arrow, then Done.
This is useful when you’re sharing reference material you don’t want re-distributed.
4. Sharing From Drive for Desktop and Mobile
Drive for desktop (Mac and Windows)
If you have Drive for desktop installed, your synced Google Drive folder shows up in Finder (Mac) or File Explorer (Windows).
- Open the Google Drive location in Finder or File Explorer.
- Right-click any folder.
- Select Share with Google Drive (Mac) or Share with Google Drive (Windows).
- The standard Share dialog opens, pick people, set roles, and click Send.
Sharing a folder from your local machine and sharing it on the web do exactly the same thing. The folder lives in the cloud either way.
Mobile app (Android and iOS)
- Open the Google Drive app.
- Tap the three-dot menu next to the folder.
- Tap Share.
- Add people and set their role, or tap Manage access > General access to switch to Anyone with the link.
- Tap the send arrow.
Quick Reference
| Method | Best for | External users? | Expiration support |
|---|---|---|---|
| Specific people (Viewer/Commenter/Editor) | Small teams, client work, sensitive files | Yes (case-by-case) | Yes (Workspace) |
| Anyone with the link | Large groups, public resources, quick distribution | Yes (anyone holding link) | No |
| Restricted (default) | Internal-only files | No | N/A |
| Drive for desktop right-click | Sharing while working in Finder/Explorer | Same as web | Same as web |
Which Method Should You Use?
- Sharing with a few named people? Use specific people with a role of Viewer, Commenter, or Editor. It’s the easiest to audit later.
- Sharing with a large group or external party that doesn’t need an account? Switch General access to Anyone with the link: but pick the lowest role they actually need.
- Sharing time-bound material (contractors, beta testers)? Use specific people plus an expiration date so you don’t forget to revoke access later.
- Sharing from a desktop workflow? Drive for desktop’s right-click option is the same as the web, use whichever is faster for you in the moment.
Manage Access at Scale Without the Click-Through
Sharing one folder is easy. Sharing dozens, and remembering to revoke access months later, is where teams lose the thread. Carly is an AI assistant that connects to 200+ apps including Google Drive and handles repetitive admin like sharing, organizing, and following up.
More on Google Drive: How to recover deleted files in Google Drive · How to transfer ownership in Google Drive · How to make a file private in Google Drive · How to add Google Calendar to Outlook
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