How to Unshare a Google Doc
Unsharing a shared document is just as easy as sharing one. It takes only a few clicks to unshare it and make it inaccessible to anyone but you. Since there are two primary ways documents from Google Docs are shared, we’ll go over the unsharing process for both. Toward the bottom of this page are directions for bulk unsharing, helpful if you need to make several documents private at once.
Undo Link Sharing
If you’ve been sharing the document through its link so that anybody can access it, even if they aren’t logged in to their Google account, then follow these steps (if you’re not sure, just follow along and see if it applies to your situation):
Undo Email Sharing
Do this if you’ve added people to the share list by entering their email address. You can unshare the document with specific people or everyone. If you’re using the mobile app, tap the person icon at the top right. Mobile users will see this option only after tapping on the Manage access section at the bottom. Tap Change in the mobile app to find this menu.
How to Unshare Google Docs in Bulk
Do you have lots of files to unshare? The instructions above are fine for a few documents, but if you have an entire folder of things you need to make private, you can select all of them at once to perform bulk actions. Use the person icon at the top-right if you’re in the mobile app. Repeat this step for everyone on the list if you want to make this document completely private. Mobile users should tap the Manage access section at the bottom and then tap the person’s name to find the Remove option.
How to Find All Shared Google Docs
Google, unfortunately, doesn’t provide a simple one-page list of everything you’re sharing. As nice as it would be to see at a glance which docs aren’t private so that you can adjust the share settings, there are only two Google-sanctioned methods, and neither are super helpful. To delete any shared links, select Anyone with the link under the doc you want private, and select Restricted. If you don’t have lots of files on your Google Drive, the best way to identify the ones you’re sharing is to open Google Drive and scroll through everything to look for the share icon (two heads). This indicates any share level, so if it’s available via a link or shared with one or more people over email, the icon will give it away. Another method is to use the search filter to find files shared with a specific person. Select the search options button next to the search bar at the top of Google Drive, and then enter the person’s email address into the Shared with field, followed by SEARCH. If you want to restrict the search to only Docs files, choose Documents from the Type menu. Those are Google’s only options for locating shared files. Still, Filewatch is a great alternative that scans your whole drive and organizes every shared file into categories according to who has access. Two handy categories are Public on the web and Anyone with the link. Any document you select will open in Google Docs in a new tab. Follow the steps above to change the privacy settings.
