How to Share Google Sheets Files: Everything You Need to Know

When Google Sheets was launched in 2006, one of its most exciting features was real-time collaboration. Years later, it’s still magical to share and collaborate on Google spreadsheets with anyone, anytime, and anywhere.

Note that sharing and collaboration are slightly different features:

• Collaboration: You and others work on the same spreadsheet simultaneously or at different times.
• Sharing: You simply publish your spreadsheet for others to use, and they can even make their own copies based on the permission levels.

How to Share Google Sheets Files

Please note that you can share a Google spreadsheet via a desktop browser or a mobile device. This procedure focuses on sharing on the computer. Google’s help documentation includes tips for mobile collaboration.

You can easily share a Google spreadsheet with anyone using their email address. However, only people with a Google account will be able to edit the spreadsheet.

1. Open the file you want to share and click on the green “Share” button at the top right of your screen.

2. Enter the email addresses of each person you want to share your spreadsheet with.

3. Set the sharing permissions. When you share a Google spreadsheet, you can choose what people can do with it. The levels are as follows:

   • View: The lowest level of access. People can view the file but cannot edit or share it with others.
   • Comment: People can make comments and suggestions but cannot edit or share the file with others.
   • Edit: The highest level of access. People can make changes, accept or reject suggestions, share the file with others, add or remove specific individuals, and copy, print, or download the file. Note: This is the default sharing level in Google Sheets.
   • Advanced settings: If you click on the “Advanced” link at the bottom right of the “Share with others” window, you can prevent editors from changing access and adding new people, and disable downloading, printing, and copying options for commenters and viewers.

   

4. Add a message (optional). Add a note to explain why you’re sharing the spreadsheet or include special instructions.

5. Send – Click on the blue “Send” button at the bottom left of the dialog box to share the spreadsheet.

Stopping, Limiting, or Modifying Sharing

After sharing a file, you can stop sharing it at any time. You can also prevent people from making changes or sharing your file.

To stop sharing a Google spreadsheet:

1. Open the spreadsheet.
2. Click on “Share”.
3. At the bottom right of the “Share with others” window, click on “Advanced”.
4. Next to the person you want to stop sharing with, click on Remove.
5. Click on “Save changes”.

To prevent commenters and viewers from downloading, printing, or copying your file:

1. Open the file you want to restrict.
2. Click on “Share”.
3. At the bottom right, click on “Advanced”.
4. Check the box next to “Disable downloading, printing, and copying options for commenters and viewers”.
5. Click on “Save changes” and then “Done”.

Please note that while you can limit how people share, print, download, and copy in Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides, you cannot prevent others from sharing the file’s content in alternative ways, including copying and pasting the content of your file into another file.

How to Share Google Sheets with Yourself Only

1. Click on “Share”.
2. At the bottom right, click on “Advanced”.
3. Check the box next to “Prevent editors from changing access and adding new people”.
4. Click on “Save changes” and then “Done”.

Please note that if you prevent sharing for a folder, it only applies to the folder. To enable it for the files inside, you need to modify the settings of the files inside.

Setting an Expiration Date for a File

This option is only available for people with educational or paid G Suite accounts. To set an expiration date for a file:

1. Click on “Share” or “Share”.
2. At the bottom right of the “Share with others” window, click on “Advanced”.
3. Under “Who has access”, hover your mouse over the person you want to limit and click on “Set expiration date”.
4. Next to “Access expires”, click on the number of days to change the expiration date. Choose a date within one year from the current date.
5. Click on “Save changes”.

How to Share and Collaborate on a Google Spreadsheet with Over 100 People

Up to 100 people with viewing, editing, or commenting permissions can work on a Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides file simultaneously. When more than 100 people access a file, only the owner and select users with editing permissions can modify the file.

If you need many people to view a file at the same time, publish it and create a link to share with viewers. You can give people who need to edit or comment on the file editing access. Learn how to publish a file.

Publishing a file makes it visible to everyone on the web. Be cautious when publishing private or sensitive information. If you have a business or school account, your administrator can restrict who can view a published file. If you’re an administrator, learn how to control who can publish documents on the web.

To remove a file from the web, you need to stop publishing it. Learn how to stop publishing a file.

To stop sharing a file with collaborators, learn how to modify sharing permissions.

Sharing a Template in Google Sheets

Sharing a Google spreadsheet as a template that others can use and modify is easy:

1. Open your Google spreadsheet and click on the green “Share” button at the top right of the screen.

2. Click on “Get shareable link” and select “Anyone with the link can view” and then click “Copy link”.

3. You will then get a link that looks like this:

   https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d//edit?usp=sharing

   To use the document as a template, modify the last part of the URL from:

   /edit?usp=sharing
   to:
   /template/preview

   The link should look like this:

   https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d//template/preview

   Now, when someone opens the link, they will see a preview of the file with a blue “Use template” button.

If You Want to Stop Sharing a File You Own

If you have shared a file with others, you (or anyone with editing permissions) can change the file’s sharing settings. Learn how to do that.

If you don’t want someone to have public access to your file, stop publishing it.

When You See Anonymous or Unknown People in a Shared Google Sheets File

People you invite individually will appear under their names when they are in the file. People you haven’t individually invited will appear as anonymous animals when they are in the file.

You may see a name you don’t recognize or “anonymous animals” accessing your document, spreadsheet, or presentation. This can happen when the document is shared publicly or with anyone with the link.

Read more about anonymous sharing on Google here.

Removing Google Sheets Files or Folders Shared with You

If someone has shared a file or folder with you that you no longer want to see, you can remove it:

1. Go to drive.google.com.
2. Click on “Shared with me” on the left.
3. Right-click on the file you want to remove.
4. Click on “Remove”.

Please note that you cannot remove files stored in shared drives.

Tracking Changes Made by Others in Shared Google Sheets

If you’re collaborating with multiple people on a single file, it can be challenging to determine who made certain changes and when. Fortunately, Google Sheets has robust features to see who made changes to a shared file. You can:

• View all changes made to a file or revert to a previous version.
• See what has changed since the last time a file was opened.
• See who accessed your file or who you shared it with.
• See who commented on, edited, moved, or shared a file.

Read more about tracking changes here.

Collaboration in Google Sheets – Email, Chat, Comments

In addition to sharing in Google Sheets, you can actively collaborate with others in real-time through chat. You can also collaborate asynchronously by assigning tasks, sending emails, and leaving comments directly in the spreadsheet.

Live Chat with Others in a Google Spreadsheet

If you’re working on a Google spreadsheet at the same time as others, you can chat with them inside the spreadsheet.

1. On your computer, open a document, spreadsheet, or presentation.
2. At the top right, click on “Chat”. This feature will not be available if you’re the only one in the file.
3. Type your message in the chat box.
4. When you’re done, at the top right of the chat window, click on “Close”.

Please note that all conversations in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides include everyone viewing the file. The conversations are not recorded.

Send Emails to Collaborators in Google Sheets

You can easily send emails to collaborators directly from Google Sheets. This is particularly useful when you want to ask questions about a spreadsheet or follow up on a conversation that’s too long for comments.

1. Open your Google Sheets file. Click on “File > Email collaborators”. (Optional, shared drive files only)
2. To send an email to all members of the shared drive, check the “Members” box. (Optional)
3. Edit the email recipients or add a subject. Add a message. (Optional)
4. To have a copy of the email sent to you, check the “Send me a copy” box. (Optional, Drive files only)
5. To paste the file directly into the email, check the “Paste item itself into email” box. Click on “Send”.

Add Comments and Assign Tasks in Google Sheets

In Google Sheets, select the cell or text you want to comment on.

1. Click on “Add comment”.
2. Type your comment in the box.
3. (Optional) To address your task or comment to a specific person, enter a plus sign (+) followed by their email address. You can add as many people as you want. Each person will receive an email with your comment and a link to the file.
4. (Optional) To assign the comment to a specific person, check the “Assign to” box.
5. Click on “Comment” or “Assign”.

That’s it! Now you’re equipped with everything you need to confidently share and collaborate on Google Sheets. Start maximizing the power of real-time collaboration and take your productivity to new heights!

This article was written for Crawlan.com.