Get started: Drive setup guide for admins

Set up Drive users' sharing permissions

Next: Stream (or sync) Drive files to users' computers

This article is for administrators. To learn how to share or set permissions for your own files, get to Share files from Google Drive .

As an ambassador, you can control how users in your organization share Google Drive files and folders. These include items from Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and My Maps as well as folders and anything else stored in Drive.

Before you begin

  • Y'all can make the same sharing rules for everyone. Or, set different rules for groups or departments. To apply the setting for certain users, put their accounts in an organizational unit of measurement (to set past department) or a configuration grouping (to set for users beyond or inside departments).
  • Use target audiences to recommend which groups of people users should share with, such as departments or teams. For data near setting up target audiences, go to About target audiences.

Note: If Drive is turned off, you tin't change file-sharing permissions.

Let users share files outside of your organization

  1. From the Admin console Home page, go to Apps and then Google Workspace and then Drive and Docs.

  2. Click Sharing settings and then Sharing options.

  3. To apply the setting to everyone, get out the top organizational unit of measurement selected. Otherwise, select a child organizational unit or a configuration group.

    Supported editions for this feature: Business Standard and Business Plus; Enterprise; Education Fundamentals, Educational activity Standard, Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Education Plus; G Suite Business organization; Nonprofits; Essentials. Compare your edition

  4. For Sharing outside of your organization , click On and choose sharing options:

    • For files owned past users in your system , warn when sharing outside of your organization —To protect confidentiality, users get a warning when they try to share outside of your organization.
    • Allow users in your organization to send invitations to non-Google accounts exterior your arrangement —Users can share files with people who don't use Google Accounts.
      Notation: To edit or comment on files, users must sign in to a Google Account (or a visitor business relationship if you take visitor sharing turned on).
    • When sharing outside of your organization is allowed, users in your organization can make files and published spider web content visible to anyone with the link .

  5. Click Save. If y'all configured an organizational unit of measurement or group, yous might be able to Inherit or Override a parent organizational unit, or Unset a grouping.

It can take upwards to 24 hours for changes to appear. During this time, older and newer settings might be intermittently enforced.

Restrict sharing to certain domains

Supported editions for this characteristic: Business Standard and Business Plus; Enterprise; Education Fundamentals, Educational activity Standard, Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Education Plus; G Suite Business organisation; Essentials. Compare your edition

You lot tin can restrict file sharing to trusted (allowed) domains. When you utilize an allowlist to restrict sharing:

  • The domain must be a Google Workspace domain unless you're using visitor sharing.
  • Users can't share files with personal accounts.
  • If your organization has a mix of Deject Identity and Google Workspace licenses, domains on an allowlist configuration for Google Workspace users also apply to users with Deject Identity licenses.

To set allowlist settings:

  2. From the Admin panel Home page, go to Apps and then Google Workspace and then Bulldoze and Docs.

  3. Click Sharing settings and then Sharing options.

  4. To apply the setting to everyone, leave the top organizational unit selected. Otherwise, select a kid organizational unit or a configuration group.

    Supported editions for this feature: Business concern Standard and Business organization Plus; Enterprise; Education Fundamentals, Didactics Standard, Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Instruction Plus; Thousand Suite Business organisation; Nonprofits; Essentials. Compare your edition

  5. For Sharing outside of your organisation , click Allowlisted Domains and cull sharing options:
    • For files owned by users in your system , warn when sharing with users in allowlisted domains—To protect confidentiality, users get a warning when trying to share files with users in a domain on an allowlist.
    • Let users in your arrangement to receive files from users exterior of allowlisted domains—Users can open files from domains that aren't on an allowlist and edit Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides stored on third-party storage systems.
    • Allow users in your arrangement to transport invitations to not-Google accounts exterior your system —Allows PIN-verified visitor sharing to non-Google users in domains on your allowlist.
  6. Click Salvage. If you configured an organizational unit of measurement or grouping, you might be able to Inherit or Override a parent organizational unit of measurement, or Unset a group.

It can accept up to 24 hours for changes to appear. During this time, older and newer settings might be intermittently enforced.

Restrict all file sharing outside of your organization

Supported editions for this feature: Business Standard and Business Plus; Enterprise; Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Education Plus; G Suite Business; Essentials. Compare your edition

You can restrict users from sharing or receiving the following items outside of your organization:

  • Invitations to items in Docs, Sheets, and Slides, which are active for 14 days
  • Links to files stored in Drive
  • Email attachments that users can transport or receive, uploaded direct from devices and stored in Bulldoze

To restrict file sharing exterior of your organization:

  2. From the Admin panel Dwelling house page, go to Apps and then Google Workspace and then Bulldoze and Docs.

  3. Click Sharing settings and then Sharing options.

  4. To utilize the setting to everyone, go out the top organizational unit of measurement selected. Otherwise, select a child organizational unit or a configuration group.

    Supported editions for this feature: Business Standard and Business concern Plus; Enterprise; Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Education Plus; G Suite Business concern; Nonprofits; Essentials. Compare your edition

  5. For Sharing exterior of your organization , click Off.
  6. (Optional) To keep users from opening or editing files from exterior of your organization or in tertiary-party storage systems, uncheck the Let users in your system to receive files from users outside of your organization box.
    Note: If you gear up a policy that restricts external users from accessing your arrangement'southward information, users can share files with a grouping that has external users, only those users tin't access the files.
  7. Click Save. If yous configured an organizational unit or group, y'all might be able to Inherit or Override a parent organizational unit, or Unset a grouping.

Information technology can take upwardly to 24 hours for changes to appear. During this time, older and newer settings might be intermittently enforced.

Control how users share links to files

Supported editions for this feature: Business Standard and Business Plus; Enterprise; Teaching Fundamentals, Education Standard, Educational activity and Learning Upgrade, and Pedagogy Plus; Chiliad Suite Business; Essentials. Compare your edition

You tin can control the options that users get when they try to share links to files from My Drive. The options do not apply to files and folders in shared drives.

Cloud Identity customers: If your organisation has a mix of Deject Identity and Google Workspace licenses, the link-sharing setting for the Google Workspace users also applies to the users with Cloud Identity licenses.

  2. From the Admin console Home page, become to Apps and then Google Workspace and then Drive and Docs.

  3. Click Sharing settings.
  4. To apply the setting to everyone, go out the superlative organizational unit selected. Otherwise, select a child organizational unit or a configuration grouping.

    Supported editions for this feature: Business concern Standard and Business concern Plus; Enterprise; Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Pedagogy Plus; G Suite Business; Nonprofits; Essentials. Compare your edition

  5. Click Link sharing default.
  6. Cull an option:
    • Off—Only the file possessor and people the owner has shared the file with can access the file.
    • On - Anyone at your arrangement with the link—Anyone in your organization who has the link can access the file. Files with this visibility don't normally appear in search results unless there are links to them from other files that are searchable.
    • On - Anyone at your organization —Anyone in your organization can search for and view the file. Notwithstanding, a file with this visibility appears in a user's Drive only after they admission the file or the file is shared with them.
      Important: If you set up a target audience for the sharing settings rather than anyone at your organization, the target audition options show instead.
  7. Click Save. If you lot configured an organizational unit or grouping, you might exist able to Inherit or Override a parent organizational unit, or Unset a group.

It can take up to 24 hours for changes to appear.

Restrict the admission levels users can give to files

Supported editions for this feature: Concern Standard and Concern Plus; Enterprise; Education Fundamentals, Instruction Standard, Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Education Plus; G Suite Business organization; Essentials. Compare your edition

You can determine what level of admission users can give to files when they are  prompted to share a file. Users get prompted to share when they:

  • Transport Gmail or Google Conversation letters with links to files that haven't been shared with recipients.
  • +mention someone in a comment in a file who doesn't have access.
  • Attach files to Google Calendar events where guests don't have access to the files.

If users share files they don't own, the sharing options come from the file owner'south organizational unit of measurement. If users share multiple files and different organizational unit settings employ, the options come from the least permissive organizational unit of measurement.

To assign the level of access users tin give:

  2. From the Admin panel Habitation page, go to Apps and then Google Workspace and then Drive and Docs.

  3. Click Sharing settings.
  4. To utilize the setting to everyone, leave the peak organizational unit selected. Otherwise, select a kid organizational unit or a configuration group.

    Supported editions for this feature: Business Standard and Business concern Plus; Enterprise; Educational activity Fundamentals, Pedagogy Standard, Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Education Plus; Grand Suite Business organisation; Nonprofits; Essentials. Compare your edition

  5. Click Sharing options.
  6. For Admission Checker, cull an option:
    • Recipients only, your organization , or public—Users can give access to anyone who has the link. The least restrictive setting, it's available only if sharing is turned on for your organization and yous permit users to publish files on the web.
    • Recipients only or your organization —Users can give access to required recipients and anyone in your arrangement who has the link.
    • Recipients only—Users tin can only requite access to required recipients. If the file has been shared with other people, they nonetheless have access. This is the nigh restrictive setting.
  7. Click Relieve. If you configured an organizational unit or group, you might exist able to Inherit or Override a parent organizational unit, or Unset a group.

It tin can accept up to 24 hours for changes to appear.

Control who can access files stored on shared drives

Supported editions for this characteristic: Business Standard and Business Plus; Enterprise; Didactics Fundamentals, Education Standard, Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Educational activity Plus; G Suite Business; Essentials. Compare your edition

You can control who can movement files and folders exterior of your organization when moving content from:

  • A shared drive in your organization to a shared drive owned past some other organisation or someone'south My Drive in some other organization
  • Someone'due south My Drive in your organization to a shared bulldoze owned by some other arrangement

For details on controlling who can access files stored on shared drives, go to Control sharing for your organisation.

Related topics

  • How Drive protects your privacy & keeps y'all in command
  • Permit users to create shared drives
  • Gear up target audiences for a Google service
  • Add an organizational unit of measurement
  • Motion users to an organizational unit

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