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To share a Google Sheets file, open it and select Share. Add specific people by email and choose their role, or use General access to create a link for a broader audience. To stop sharing, remove a person’s access and/or change general access to Restricted.
Choose how people should access the sheet
Google Sheets offers two basic approaches. Named access invites particular people or groups; link access lets people who have the direct link open the file according to its configured role. You can use both, but they are separate access paths, so check both when changing who can open a file.
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- Use named access when you want to identify the people who can open the spreadsheet.
- Use link access when it is appropriate for anyone in the selected audience with the link to open it.
For a private or sensitive sheet, choose the narrowest audience and role that meets the need. Work or school account administrators may limit which sharing options are available. Google’s Drive sharing guidance describes these access settings and limitations.
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- Open the spreadsheet and select Share.
- Enter the email addresses of the people you want to invite, or enter a Google group.
- Choose a role: Viewer, Commenter, or Editor.
- Select the option to send the invitation.
A Viewer can view the file, a Commenter can add comments, and an Editor can make changes. For files in My Drive, Google notes that editors may also be able to share the file unless the owner or settings restrict that ability. Available controls can vary with account type and organizational policy. See Google’s Sheets collaboration instructions.
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Get a link to a Google Sheet
- Open the spreadsheet and select Share.
- Under General access, choose the audience. Restricted means only people who already have access can open the file. Anyone with the link allows people with the direct link to access it.
- Set the role recipients should have, such as Viewer, Commenter, or Editor.
- Select Copy link, then paste the link into a message or wherever you intend to share it.
Copying a link does not by itself make the file available to everyone. Access depends on the audience and role set in General access. If you select Anyone with the link, anyone who gets the direct link can use the file at that role; an administrator may prevent broad link sharing on a work or school account.
Stop sharing or restrict access
Remove one person
- Open the file and select Share.
- Find the person in the access list and choose Remove access.
- Save or confirm the change if prompted.
Turn off general link access
- In the file’s sharing controls, find General access.
- Change the setting to Restricted.
- Confirm or save the change if prompted.
Removing a named collaborator and restricting general access affect different access paths. If you need to stop sharing the file, review both the people listed and the General access setting. Google says new Docs, Sheets, and Slides files are Restricted by default; see its privacy guidance.
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Does “Anyone with the link” make a sheet appear in Google Search?
No. Google says that choosing Anyone with the link does not by itself cause search engines to crawl or index the document. The distinction is between access by someone who has the direct link and publishing that link on a publicly searchable webpage. Avoid posting a link publicly if you do not want others to discover it there. Google explains this in its privacy information for Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Vids.
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