Google File/Folder Sharing Settings

IMPORTANT: When conducting HandySchool business with staff or students, share using only their HandySchool Google account. Never share with students or staff using a personal Google account, either yours or theirs.

Sharing a File or Folder
Highlight the file or folder name in Google drive and click the Share icon in the upper right of the screen menu or from within the opened file, click Share in the top-right corner. 

Note: If a folder is shared, all documents created within that folder are also shared.

Each user that you share the file/folder with can have a different level of access or this is also where you can remove an existing user.

Link Sharing Options:

Restricted:  If you're going to share a file, this is the safest and recommended method.  It will ONLY share the file with the person(s) that are listed and only those users will have access with the link.  For example: if one of the users sends the link to someone who is NOT on the share list, that person will not be able to access the file.  

Note: If you have received a notification from Managed Methods of a files with risky sharing settings, the file link sharing should be changed to restricted.

Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District:  In this case (below), the file is only shared with the specific users however, if one of those users sends the link to someone else in the district who is not on the list, that user will be able to open and view the file.  The only time this is considered acceptable is if the file contains absolutely no financial or student information, or other content that would be considered sensitive.  

Anyone with the link:  "Anyone" means anyone either inside or outside the district would be able to open and view a file with this setting.  Even if you only have one person in the shared section, if "Anyone" is turned on in the link section, the link could be shared with anyone globally. 

An example of when this is acceptable is for your email signature graphic.  That file is stored in your Google Drive and you want it to be viewable no matter who the email is sent to so the share setting should be "anyone."  

REMEMBER: Don't share anything with an unrestricted link that you would be embarrassed to see on a billboard.