Note: This isn’t a real link, so it won’t work if you try to visit it. The sharing link will look something like this: Finally, click “Copy Link” to be given a sharing link for the file.Editors can edit the file as if it was their own. Viewers can see the file but can’t do anything else with it. Commenters can leave comments on the file for you to review but can’t edit the file directly. You can pick between Viewer, Commenter, and Editor. In this box, under General Access, click the drop-down box and select “anyone with the link.” This will allow anyone who has a sharing link to the file access to the file, files, or folders you set with the setting.In Google Drive for Desktop, click “Share With Google Drive.” Both of these options will pop up identical dialogue boxes. On the web platform, click “Share” in the context menu.Select the file, files, or folder, and right-click it.Decide on the file, files, or folder you want to share with someone who doesn’t have a Google account or, for some reason, doesn’t want to sign into their Google account to access the files.You can, however, also do this through Google Drive for Desktop by navigating to your Google Drive folder. You’ll want to do this through the web platform at for the easiest time in managing your files. The good news is there’s a defined solution built right into Google Drive for exactly this problem.ĭespite being an omnipresent mega-giant, Google understands that not everyone has a Google account (yet), and that means they’ve allowed outside access to Google Drive files.
Using a Different Cloud Platform Option 1: Public Links What can you do? Is there a way to share a file with them without requiring a sign-in? Fortunately, the answer is yes, and you have a few different options.Ĥ. This runs into a problem when the user doesn’t have a Gmail account or Google account of any kind. This usually involves inviting them to have access to the file and sharing it in their own Google Drive, where they can use and edit it as they would any other file. This is because when you want to add someone to a Google Shared Drive or share files directly with them, you need to add them to the account in some way. Bing has its own dedicated users, Microsoft’s Office suite is in many ways better than Google’s, and of course, there’s always OneDrive coming pre-packaged on every modern Windows computer.īecause if you want to use Google Drive to collaborate with someone, often the first question you ask them is, “What’s your Gmail?” Google may be an omnipresent tech mega-giant with fingers in every possible pie, but there are, believe it or not, still plenty of people around the world who don’t use the Google ecosystem for their business or pleasure.