Sharing, inheritance and access requests

Sharing in Drive is about people, not links. There is no public link: Copy link produces an address that works only for people who already have access. Send it to somebody who does not and they will not get in, which is a feature rather than a fault.

The Share dialogue

Share opens a panel with a Grant as dropdown offering viewer or editor, and you finish with Done. Search for people by name — organisation resources search people in your organisation, personal ones search by name or email. Everyone already granted access sits under People with access, each with Remove access.

Grant viewer unless somebody actually needs to change the file. It is an easy thing to raise later and an awkward one to take back.

Organisation files also have an Everyone tab alongside People, for when the answer is the whole organisation.

Inheritance

Sub-folders inherit access from a restricted parent. Grant somebody access to a folder and they can reach what is inside it, without you repeating yourself for every file. When an entry has arrived that way you are shown where the inherited grant came from, so you always know which folder to change if the access is wrong.

The practical lesson is to set access on the folder, not on individual files. Access decided file by file drifts within weeks and nobody can explain who can see what.

When you cannot get in

If you only have view access in an organisation folder you will see Request access. Press it and it becomes Requesting…, then Request sent. That is the whole job — no email to compose, and the request reaches somebody who can act on it.

From the other side, the left rail carries Access requests in an organisation, with a count of the ones still pending. It is worth glancing at, because a colleague waiting on access is a colleague not working. Shared with me sits just above it and collects everything other people have given you.