Share documents with visitors Invite people who don’t have Google accounts to collaborate on your Google Drive files and folders as visitors. You control who can edit, comment on, or view the file. You can also stop sharing the file at any time.
Collaborate as a visitor
When you get an invitation to collaborate on a Google file, you must verify your identity with a PIN. After that, you can collaborate on the shared file or folder for 7 days. If you need to collaborate longer, you can use the link from the original sharing email to verify your identity again.
Visitors can:
- Edit, comment on, or view shared documents.
- Create files with Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms in folders or subfolders in a shared drive.
Visitors with contributor access can also upload or download files and folders to folders or subfolders in a shared drive.
Important: Visitors can't own data and can’t be added as members of shared drive at the root level.
- In your email inbox, open the email from Google.
- Click Open.
- Click Send.
- In your email inbox, open the verification code email.
- Copy the verification code.
- Return to the other browser tab and enter the verification code in the box provided.
- Click Next.
You can now collaborate on the shared Google file or folder. Learn how to add, edit, reply, or delete comments.
Tip: To find the document again, open the email from Google.
Share with visitors
Once visitor sharing has been turned on for your organization, you can share documents with non-Google accounts like normal. Visitors can edit, comment on, or view your document for 7 days after they verify their email address. If they need to collaborate longer, they can use the link from the original sharing email to verify their identity again. Contact your administrator to find which select accounts you can share.
Important: If you use a Google Workspace Business Starter or Frontline account, you can share files up to 5 times each calendar month with non-Google accounts. Each time is defined as sharing one document with one visitor.
- On your computer, log into your work or school account.
- Go to Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, or Slides.
- Click the file you want to share.
- Click share
.
- Under "Share with people and groups," enter the email address you want to share with and press Enter.
- To change what people can do to your doc, on the right, click
Viewer, Commenter, or Editor.
- Click Send.
You can delete your visitor session at any time. When you delete your visitor session, your name is removed and all your changes and comments are attributed to an unknown user.
Important: If you delete your visitor session, you'll lose access to files that have been shared with you. To regain access, the files must be shared with you again.
- Sign in to your visitor session using the "Invitation to [Edit/Comment/View]" email from Google.
- In the top right, click your initial.
- Click Delete visitor session.
- Click Send.
- In your email inbox, open the verification code email.
- Enter the verification code in the box provided
click Next.
- Click the checkbox
Create a Google Account
After you delete your visitor session, you can create a Google Account or sign up for Google Workspace. You can use your Google Account to create your own documents, spreadsheets, slides, and more.