How to share a Google Drive folder with a client safely

To share a Google Drive folder with a client safely, share it with their email address rather than with “anyone with the link”, give them the lowest role that lets them do the job, and keep the folder’s general access set to Restricted. Viewer suits finished deliverables, Commenter suits feedback rounds, and Editor is only for clients who need to upload or change files. The detail that catches people out: anything you later put in a shared folder is shared too, so keep each client’s folder free of anything they shouldn’t see.

Give each client their own folder

Create a separate folder for each client or project before you share anything. Google applies a folder’s sharing to everything inside it, including files you add later, so the folder itself is the boundary.

Keep your own working material elsewhere: rate calculations, notes about the client, drafts you aren’t ready to show, and anything belonging to other clients. If a file needs tighter access than the rest of the folder, Google’s suggestion is to move it into a separate folder with its own, more limited sharing.

Share the folder with your client

1. In Google Drive, select the folder and select Share.
2. Enter your client’s email address.
3. Choose a role from the list next to their name (see below).
4. Leave Notify people ticked if you want Google to email them a link, and add a short message saying what’s in the folder.
5. Select Send.

The three roles for a folder:

• Viewer: can open everything in the folder, but can’t change anything.
• Commenter: can comment and suggest changes on files, but can’t change or share items in the folder.
• Editor: can add files, and edit, move or delete files in the folder.

If you have a Google Workspace account, you can also select Add expiration to end a Viewer’s access automatically on a date up to a year away. Google offers this only on work or school accounts, so personal Gmail users need to remove access by hand when the project ends.

Keep link sharing restricted

Below the list of people in the Share window is General access. For client work it should say Restricted, which means only the people you’ve added can open the folder.

If it says Anyone with the link, anyone who gets hold of the link can open the folder, including people your client forwards it to. To change it, select the down arrow under General access, choose Restricted, then select Done.

Limit what clients can do with your files

Two settings in the Share window control what happens to your files after you share them. Open a file, select Share, then select the Settings icon at the top:

• Editors can change permissions and share: untick this to stop editors adding new people to that file. Google notes that it applies to the individual file, and that sharing on the parent folder still applies. An editor who shares the whole folder can still give someone access to what’s inside.
• People who can download, copy, and print: choose whether viewers and commenters can do any of these. Google describes this setting for files you own, and notes that it can’t stop people sharing your content in other ways.

These settings stop casual resharing, but they aren’t a security boundary. If something truly must not leave your hands, don’t put it in a shared folder.

When clients upload files to your folder

Clients with the Editor role can add files to the folder, and also move or delete files that are already there. Before giving Editor access, decide whether you need that. For collecting files from a client, an alternative is a separate folder just for their uploads, so your deliverables stay in a folder where they’re only a Viewer.

If a file disappears from a shared folder because someone else deleted it, Google says the file’s owner can still find it: search for it in Drive, right-click it and select Add to my Drive.

Check what you’re already sharing

Drive’s search box accepts a few operators that make an audit quick:

• to:client@example.com finds files you’ve shared with that person.
• from:me finds files you’ve shared.

On a Google Workspace account, sharedwith:external lists items shared with people outside your organization, and sharedwith:public lists items available publicly. On a one-person Workspace account, nearly every client counts as outside your organization, so sharedwith:external is a quick way to see what you’ve shared with clients overall.

Remove access when the project ends

1. Open the folder, then select Share.
2. Next to your client’s name, select the down arrow and choose Remove access.
3. Select Save.

Removing someone from a folder removes their access to everything inside it, with one exception: if you also shared an individual file with them directly at a higher level, they keep that access. Check any files you shared separately.

If it doesn’t work

• Your client can’t open the folder: check that you shared it with the email address they’re signed in to Google with, and that their role is at least Viewer.
• There’s no Add expiration option: Google only offers it on work or school accounts.
• Someone you removed can still open a file: they probably have their own access to that file. Open the file’s Share window and remove them there too.
• A file you added isn’t visible to your client: open that file’s Share window to see exactly who has access, and add your client there if they’re missing.

If you’re choosing between Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 for your business, our guide to getting a professional email address on your own domain compares the plans. For more setups like this one, browse our how-to guides.

Related guide: How to sign a PDF on iPhone and Mac without printing it

Find free tools for managing client projects.

Related guides

• Share an Excel File Without Letting People Edit It
• How to Back Up Your Google Account with Google Takeout
• Two-Step Verification for Google and Microsoft Accounts

Sources

• Google: Share folders in Google Drive
• Google: Stop, limit, or change sharing
• Google: Search for files in Google Drive

Last checked: October 18, 2026. Google changes Drive’s sharing options regularly. If something here no longer matches what you see, let us know.