How to Share your File/Folder via Google Drive

So you have some files or folder lying helplessly on your laptop.

You have a friend or relative that wants you to share the files/folders with them but that seems impossible, they want you to share a link with them for them to access it.

You have a team and there’s a need to collaborate in real time on some documents, but that seems impossible.

You’re confused and don’t know what to do.

Fact, It is possible.

How do you go about this?

Do you have to do this every time someone needs a link to your document?

Do you have to pay to create a link for your document?

Is it only documents I can upload and share?

To answer these questions and some other related questions, I would say “Calm down, it is not that difficult”, just follow the steps below;

Google Drive;

What the heck is Google Drive, Is it related to “Self driving cars”?

(“My dear, calm down”)

Google Drive is a file storage and synchronization service developed by Google. Google Drive allows users to store files on their servers, synchronize files across devices, and share files.

You can upload any type of files to your Google Drive account from your local PC. Files you upload to the Drive opens in your browser or mobile app.

Some of the file formats include;

You only need to upload these files from a single device and you can have access to the drive on other devices from anywhere in the world with your Gmail account details.

Image files, Video files, Audio files, Text files, Microsoft Files (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), PDF etc.

You can use Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides to create/edit Word, Excel, PowerPoint documents respectively.

Google drive gives every user 15GB free space (Isn’t that awesome?) then you pay for additional space if you exhaust the free space quota.

Files uploaded to Google Drive can be arranged into folders just like you would on your local computer.

You can share a folder or single file privately with other people (using their email addresses) without them having access to other files on folders on your Drive. You can generate a unique link to share a folder or file with other people, only the people with this link can access the particular file or folder in your drive.

Files and folders can also be made “public on the web”, which means that they can be indexed by search engines and thus can be found and accessed by anyone.

You can regulate the public visibility of a file or folder.

You can also regulate the permissions that others have on your files or folders choosing from the 3 access levels; “can edit”, “can comment” and “can view”.

Google Drive makes collaboration easier, you can work together in a single document or multiple documents with your team in real-time.

So how do you Upload a File/Folder?

1. Go to https://drive.google.com/ with your browser or download the app from PlayStore or AppleStore then log in with your Gmail account.
2. Click + sign (New) and then File upload or Folder upload, and then choose the file or folder you want to upload.
3. Click Open.
4. If you’re using your browser, you can Drag & Drop a file/folder into the drive.

Google Drive Upload new file/folder

How do you share a file/folder?

NB: You can only share files/folders that you own or have access to.

On the Web;

Share with Specific People.

1. Right click on the particular file/folder you want to share and select Share
2. Under People, enter the email address of the person you want to share with.
3. Click Edit and choose the access level (Can Edit, Comment, View)
4. Click Send

Share with a link of File/Folder

1. Right click on the particular file/folder you want to share and select Share
2. At the top right, click Get shareable link.
3. Click Edit and choose the access level (Can Edit, Comment, View)
4. Click Copy link.
5. Click Done.
6. Paste the link in an email or any place you want to share it.

That’s all.