How to Stop Sharing a File in Google Drive

You can take back access to a file you shared at any time. Remove individual people, turn off the link, or both, from the same Share dialog.

Open the Share dialog

In Drive, right-click the file, hover Share, and click Share. If the file is already open in Docs, Sheets, or Slides, click Share at the top right instead. The dialog lists everyone who has access and shows the link setting under General access.

Remove a person

Under People with access, find the person and click the role dropdown to the right of their name, which reads Viewer, Commenter, or Editor. Choose Remove access. Their name disappears from the list. Click Save to apply the change. If the person got access through a shared folder, they keep it until you remove them from the folder or move the file out.

Turn off link sharing

Under General access, click Anyone with the link and choose Restricted. Now only the people listed above can open the file. Anyone else who has the link sees a page asking to request access, and you receive an email when someone asks. Click Done.

Check the result

Open the link in a private browser window while signed out. It should show the access request page rather than the file. If you removed every person and set access to Restricted, the file is private again. The Copy link button still copies the address, but the address only works for people on the list.

Editors can reshare unless you stop them. Click the gear icon at the top right of the Share dialog. Untick Editors can change permissions and share to stop editors from adding people, and untick Viewers and commenters can see the option to download, print, and copy to hide those options for read-only access.

There is no way to recall a copy. Anyone who downloaded the file or made a copy while they had access still has it. Removing access only affects the original in your Drive. In the phone app, tap the three dots next to the file, choose Manage access, and tap a name to remove it.