Sharing a Google Sheet takes seconds, but giving the wrong person edit access can cost hours of fixing broken formulas. Here’s how to share with exactly the right permissions.
The three access levels
| Role | Can view | Can comment | Can edit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Viewer | Yes | No | No |
| Commenter | Yes | Yes | No |
| Editor | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Rule of thumb: give the lowest level each person needs. Most people only need Viewer or Commenter.
Share with specific people
- Click the Share button in the top-right corner.
- Type the person’s email address or a group email.
- Choose Viewer, Commenter or Editor from the dropdown.
- Add a short message if you like, and click Send.
To share without sending an email notification, untick Notify people.
Share with a link
- Click Share.
- Under General access, change Restricted to Anyone with the link (or your organisation’s name, on work accounts).
- Set the role to Viewer, Commenter or Editor.
- Click Copy link.
Be careful: “Anyone with the link” means anyone the link is forwarded to. Never use Editor access with public links, and don’t use links at all for sensitive data.
Stop viewers from downloading, printing or copying
Click Share, then the gear icon, and untick Viewers and commenters can see the option to download, print, and copy. This discourages copying, although it can’t stop someone taking screenshots.
Stop editors from re-sharing
In the same gear menu, untick Editors can change permissions and share. Only the owner can then add new people.
Protect ranges and sheets
Sometimes people need to edit part of a sheet, like entering their figures, without touching your formulas or headers.
- Go to Data → Protect sheets and ranges.
- Click Add a sheet or range.
- Choose Range (for example, the formula column) or Sheet (a whole tab).
- Click Set permissions and choose Restrict who can edit this range → Only you, or add specific editors.
Tip: to protect a whole sheet except the input cells, choose Sheet and use Except certain cells to list the ranges people may edit.
If you just want a gentle reminder rather than a lock, choose Show a warning when editing this range.
Give temporary access
On Google Workspace (business) accounts, you can set an expiry date for viewers and commenters, and in some cases editors. In the Share dialog, click the role dropdown next to the person and choose Add expiration. Access is removed automatically on that date.
See who has access and what changed
- Who has access: click Share to see the full list. Remove someone by changing their role to Remove access.
- What changed: go to File → Version history → See version history to see edits by person and restore older versions.
- Who edited a cell: right-click the cell and choose Show edit history.
Transfer ownership
If you’re leaving a project, make someone else the owner: open Share, change their role to Transfer ownership. On personal accounts the other person must accept the request.
Quick checklist before sharing
- Is “General access” set to Restricted unless a link is really needed?
- Does each person have the lowest role they need?
- Are formulas and headers protected?
- Does the file contain data pulled in with IMPORTRANGE that some viewers shouldn’t see?
Keep shared files easy to find with our guide to organizing Google Drive.