How to Share a Folder in Google Drive

Google Drive is heavily utilised for collaborative work, but sharing individual documents one by one is inefficient. If you are managing a project, a team, or a family photo archive, the best approach is to create a master folder and share the entire folder.

When you share a folder in Google Drive, any file you place inside it—and any file someone else uploads to it—automatically inherits the same sharing permissions. This eliminates the need to constantly manage access rights for new documents.

How to Share a Folder

Sharing a folder can be done directly from the Google Drive web interface. You can choose to share it privately with specific email addresses, or create a public link.

1. Open your web browser and navigate to drive.google.com.
2. Locate the folder you want to share. If you haven’t created one yet, click New > New folder in the top-left corner.
3. Right-click on the folder (or click the three vertical dots next to its name).
4. Select Share from the menu, and then click Share again in the sub-menu.

A dialogue box will appear with two distinct sections: “Share with people and groups” and “General access.”

Method 1: Sharing with Specific People

This is the most secure method. Only the people you explicitly invite will be able to see the folder, and they must be logged into their Google Accounts.

1. In the top text box (Add people and groups), type the email addresses of the people you want to invite.
2. To the right of their name, click the drop-down menu to set their permission level:
   • Viewer: They can download and read files, but cannot edit or upload anything.
   • Commenter: They can leave comments on documents but cannot edit the core files.
   • Editor: They can organise, add, edit, and completely delete files within the folder.
3. Check the Notify people box so they receive an email invitation with a direct link.
4. Click Send.

Method 2: Sharing via a Public Link

If you need to share a folder with a large group of people (such as a newsletter list or a public forum), manually entering emails is impossible. Instead, you can generate a shareable link.

1. In the Share dialogue box, look at the bottom section labelled General access.
2. Click the drop-down menu that currently says “Restricted” and change it to Anyone with the link.
3. To the right, select the permission level (Viewer, Commenter, or Editor). Warning: Giving “Editor” access to a public link means anyone on the internet could potentially delete your files.
4. Click the Copy link button.
5. Click Done.

You can now paste this link into an email, a WhatsApp message, or a website. Anyone who clicks it will instantly have access to the folder’s contents without needing a Google Account.