How to Share Google Drive Files With Non-Gmail Accounts

Need to share Google Drive files with non-Gmail accounts? Here’s how to do it.

Google Drive is one of the most popular cloud storage services due to its free 15 GB storage space, efficient collaborative tools, and built-in integrations with other Google services or products.

But not every person or organization is a Google user. So, how can you share files and folders with them? In this article, we’ll walk you through the steps of sharing a Google Drive file or folder with a non-Gmail account.

1. Share the File or Folder Through Link

Non-Gmail users can access Google Drive files and folders via a link sent to them. Right-click the file or folder and click Share > Get link. Then, click Restricted and select Anyone with the link.

Before sending the email, make sure you use the right permission settings. There are 3 options that you can choose from:

• Viewer
• Commenter
• Editor

The names are quite self-explanatory, so we will not go into further details. If you need more control over the shared content, click the Settings in from the top-right corner of the sharing window. Here you can set more restrictions for editors, commenters, and viewers.

The last step is to copy the link and send it to your colleagues or coworkers.

Related: How to See Who Has Access to Your Google Drive Files

2. Share the File or Folder Through Email

There is also the option of sharing files or folders through email. Right-click the file or folder and select Share. Then, add the emails within the Add people and groups field. If you want to add a message in the email, check the Notify people option.

Once you are ready to send the email, click Send. Google Drive will display a window informing you that you are sharing files with a non-Gmail account, and all you have left to do is click Share anyway.

The email recipients will be notified they are granted access without having to sign in to a Google account.

Related: How to Organize Google Drive Like a Pro

Share With Link or Email

The methods shown above are quite similar as they give you the same level of control over the shared content, so it all depends on the number of people you want to share the file or folder with.

If you are sharing it with a small number of people, you can use the email method. For files or folders shared with a lot of people, pasting a link into a group chat might be faster.

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