Collaboration through mobile devices has never been easier, thanks to the Google Drive app. Whether you’re using an Android device or an iPhone, you can easily share, edit, and collaborate on documents in real time. You can also control access, customize permissions, and keep everyone on the same page.

Share Google Drive Documents by Sending Invitations

One of the quickest ways to collaborate on a Google Drive document is by sending an invitation to others. You can either enter the email addresses of the team members you want to collaborate with, or you can create a link that anyone with access can use.

For example, you can co-author any document on the Drive app, such as Google Docs, with a partner, and both of you can edit the document simultaneously, allowing for smooth collaboration.

To get started, download the Drive application on your iPhone or Android. Open it and navigate to the file or folders you want to share, then hit the three vertical dots next to it. You’ll see the “Share” option—tap on that.

Enter the email addresses of the people you want to invite, or simply use the contacts from your phone. If you enable the “Notify People” option, those individuals will receive an email informing them that you’ve shared a document with them.

Before sending the invitation, you can specify whether you want them to be allowed to edit, comment, or just view the document.

Finally, hit the arrow icon to send the invitation, and your collaborators will receive an email notification with a link to access the document.

Customize How a Document Is Shared

Collaboration doesn’t always mean that everyone should have the same level of access. Sometimes, you might want to give different permissions to different people. For instance, if you’re working on a group project, you can ensure that only your team members can make edits, while others can just view or comment.

As discussed in the previous section, you can assign permission to each participant while sharing the document. However, you can also customize permissions after sharing a document.

To change permissions, locate the file or folder in the Drive, tap the three dots, and select “Manage Access.”

Next, tap the permission role, such as “Editor,” displayed under the person’s name to adjust their access level or remove their access.

Furthermore, you can also modify the general “Restricted” access levels. For example, if you’re working with someone who doesn’t have a Google account, you can still share your files and folders with them.

Simply head over to the “Manage Access” menu of the selected file where you want to change access. From there, click on the “Change” option shown under the General Access window.

Next, select the “Anyone With The Link” option.

That’s it! Now, anyone with your link can open and collaborate on your document.

Share Multiple Files and Folders Simultaneously

Sometimes, you might need to share not just one document but several files or even entire folders. In the Drive app, you cannot share multiple files by selecting them individually and sharing them all at once. To share multiple files at once, you need to place them in a folder and then share the entire folder.

First, open the Drive and search for the folder you want to share. Just like with individual files, tap the three vertical dots next to the folder name and tap the “Share” option. From there, you can either invite collaborators via email or send out a shareable link.

Now, anyone with access to the folder will automatically have access to all the files inside it. As you upload new files to the folder, they will also be shared with the same people.

Collaborate on a File With a Wide Audience

When collaborating on Google Drive, you can share a single file with up to 600 individual email addresses. Additionally, Google limits the number of users who can simultaneously edit a file to around 100. For sharing and collaborating beyond these limits, you need to use alternative methods, such as publishing your file on the web or using Google Sites.

Unfortunately, you can only publish your file to the web through the Google Drive web version. To do that, locate the file you want to publish, and then go to File > Share > Publish to Web.

Publishing makes the file publicly accessible based on your sharing settings. You can share the file with anyone on the web, specific groups, or people within your organization.

If you later need to remove the file from public view, you can also unpublish it the same way you published it.

Moreover, if you want a more structured and accessible way to share content with larger groups, consider using Google Sites. Google Sites allows you to embed documents, spreadsheets, and presentations that many users can view without hitting the usual limits for editing or sharing.

If you expect high traffic, you can first publish your document and then insert the published link into the Google Site. This method improves performance and ensures that more people can access information seamlessly.

Share an Entire Google Drive

What if you want to share access to an entire Google Drive, not just specific files or folders? Unfortunately, there’s no built-in feature to share an entire Google Drive in one step. However, you can create a master folder, place all your files and subfolders inside, and share that master folder with the necessary people using either email invitations or a shareable link.

While it’s not quite the same as sharing the entire Drive, it achieves the same goal by giving people access to all the content in a single, organized place.

Another option is to download each file and share it with others using any other file-sharing platform or method. The Google Drive mobile Android app allows you to download any file directly to your device’s internal storage, similar to a traditional download on a computer. However, the iPhone Drive app does not offer a direct download option.

To save any file to iPhone internal storage, tap on the three dots (more options) next to a file and choose the “Open In” option.

Then, tap on the “Save to Files” option.

This allows you to save your Drive documents to your iPhone device.

By following these simple steps, you can easily share files, customize sharing settings, and collaborate seamlessly with your team. So, go ahead and start collaborating!