See how people without a Google Account can create and upload content to a shared drive with the appropriate permissions.
End of August 2022, Google has announced that people on certain editions of Google Workspace would be able to grant access to shared drives to people who do not have a Google account. In particular, invited visitors would now be able to create and upload files to a shared drive. With this expanded access, you can invite visitors to create or upload content, such as images or files, from people without Google accounts, and collaborate on content in shared drives.
Share with visitors allows a person with a Workspace account to share a Google Drive folder or file with any email address, including people using an email address not associated with a Google account. For example, this allows two people to collaborate in Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides, even if one of the collaborators has an email address that isn’t a Google account. This kind of visitor sharing collaboration also works when editing Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files in Docs, Sheets, or Slides.
When sharing is initiated with an email address associated with a Google Account, users are prompted to sign in. If that email address isn’t associated with a Google Account, they’ll receive an email notification. When the invitee clicks on the share link, they are taken to a verification screen, from which they can activate the system to send an additional verification email with a passcode. After verification, the visitor will have access for seven days, after which they will have to re-authenticate using the link in the original invitation email.
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Note that file ownership differs between My Drive and a shared drive. When a person with a Google account creates a new file on My Drive, the system considers the creator as the owner. To verify this, go to Google Drive on the web, click or tap on a file you created while logging into a Google account, then press the Show details button (the i surrounded by a circle ) in the top right corner of My Drive.
On the Details tab, scroll down to see the system-indicated owner of a file. Files you create display “me” as the owner. Follow a similar process for a folder or file stored on a shared drive, and you will see that the Owner field does not appear, as files on a shared drive are not owned by a person. Instead, the shared disk “owns” the file.
The ability for invited visitors without a Google account to create and upload content to shared drives is available for six Google Workspace Editions: Essentials, Business Standard and Plus, Enterprise Standard and Plus, and Education Plus.
A Google Workspace administrator can manage access
A Google Workspace administrator can manage visitor sharing settings for the organization from the Admin console > Menu > Apps > Google Workspace > Drive and Docs > Sharing Settings > Sharing Options (Image A). If sharing outside the organization is turned off, sharing with visitors is not allowed.
Image A
Similarly, an administrator can also manage the shared drive creation settings, which can be found further down the same admin section (Figure B). These settings allow an administrator to control not only who can create shared drives, but also whether people outside the organization can access content on a shared drive, either as a member of the drive or by accessing an individual item.
Figure B
Finally, an administrator can also manage specific shared drive settings. These can be found in the Admin console > Menu > Apps > Google Workspace > Drive and Docs > Manage Shared Drives. For each shared drive, an administrator can manage members or adjust sharing settings, among others.
What is your experience?
An obvious use for these enhanced visitor sharing capabilities is to collect content on a shared drive without worrying about whether everyone has a Google account or not. Have you used visitor sharing to collaborate on Google Drive? Is the addition of the ability to upload and create content on a shared drive useful?
Call or message me on Twitter (@awolber) to let me know how you use Google Workspace’s visitor sharing features.
