Shared Google Drive folders are a fantastic resource on campus. They facilitate committee work, allow a shared space for department files so they aren’t deleted on a personal computer (oops!), and keep things organized.
Permissions get tricky though compared to a personal Google Drive. Now we have not just ourselves to worry about, what are other people doing with the files and folders? What permission do they have to move and delete items?
In this post we’re going to dig into Shared Drive permissions to get just the right balance of benefits and security.
Member permissions
First up, let’s see what individual Shared Drive members are allowed to do.
These permissions are all or nothing for the entire Drive. One member cannot be a content manager on one folder and only a viewer on another for example. All members will have access to all files and folders within the Shared Drive.
We generally do not recommend adding members outside your department or group.
| Access level | |||||
| Permission | Manager | Content manager | Contributor | Commenter | Viewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Can view files and folders | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Can comment on files | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Can edit files | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Can create and add files, can create folders | ✔ | ✔ | ✔* | ||
| Can add and remove people and groups on specific files | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Can restore files from the Trash (up to 30 days) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Can move files from My Drive to a shared drive | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Can move files and folders to the Trash | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Can move files and folders within a shared drive | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Can add or remove people and groups on specific folders in a shared drive | ✔ | ✔** | |||
| Can move folders from My Drive to a shared drive | ✔ | ||||
| Can move files from one shared drive to another shared drive | ✔ | ||||
| Can add or remove members of a shared drive | ✔ | ||||
| Can change member access levels | ✔ | ||||
| Can permanently delete files in the Trash | ✔ | ||||
| Can rename or change theme | ✔ | ||||
| Can delete the shared drive | ✔ | ||||
(Chart from How file access works in shared drives from Google)
Each permission level includes all the permissions of the levels below it. We’ll focus specifically on the permissions unique to each level.
Managers
This is the highest level of permission in the Shared Drive. They can do permanent and big things like delete the drive and add/change members.
We suggest only 1 or 2 manager level Drive members.
In the case of a Shared Drive having no manager, please contact Tech Services. They have administrative access to promote a member to manager.
Content Manager
Content Manager is the next permission level. They can trash items and move files and folders within the Shared Drive.
We suggest most Drive members be at Content Manager or Contributor level.
Contributor
The Contributor level permission is where the bulk of the Shared Drive work is done. They can create files and folders and move files into the Shared Drive.
We suggest most Drive members be at Content Manager or Contributor level.
Commenter and Viewer
These are the most restrictive permission levels for only commenting or viewing Shared Drive files.
Other access permissions
There are a few other permissions that manage access for the Shared Drive. These can all be turned on or off and like member permissions are all or nothing for the entire Shared Drive.
Allow people outside Meredith College to access files
This allows individual files and folders to be shared with users outside of Meredith College. We recommend you only enable this if you are in active collaboration with an outside group. Please contact Tech Services if you have any question about security.
“Users outside of Meredith College” also includes students since they are on a separate Google domain. If you are regularly sharing information with students by linking Drive files, consider how you might use the intranet to distribute that information instead.
Members with Contributor+ permission will be allowed to share any file and Content Manger+ permissions can share entire folders. You cannot restrict members from sharing any file.
Allow people who aren’t shared drive members to access files
This allow individual files and folders to be shared with other Meredith faculty and staff. Members with Contributor+ permission will be allowed to share any file and Content Manger+ permissions can share entire folders.
Use this instead of adding users outside your group as members if you want them to see specific files and folders.
Allow content managers to share folders
If you have enable any sharing outside the Shared Drive, you can choose whether content managers are allowed to share folders. They cannot be restricted from sharing files.
Allow viewers and commenters to download, print, and copy files
Choose whether members with view and comment permissions can also download, print, and copy files. This will apply to all files in the Shared Drive.
Changing permissions and options
A manager can change member and Drive permissions at any time.
- Click the 3 dots menu to bring up the Shared Drive menu
- Choose Manage Members (will say View members if you do not have permission to change members)
- Click the down arrow next to the user’s current permission level
- Change member permissions or remove user access as needed by
- Click the cog in the top right corner of the manage members window to open other Shared Drive settings
- Toggle on/off access setting as needed
To learn more see the How file access works in shared drives article from Google.
For questions about shared drive setup, please contact Tech Services. For training or troubleshooting moving files to the a shared drive, contact IDAT Services.