Upcoming Changes to Restricting Sharing in Folders in Google Drive
Restricting access to a sub-folder or file in Google Drive, a popular feature request, is rolling out now. Soon, in My Drive and Shared Drives, you’ll be able to restrict access to a folder or file to specific people.
This will be possible in two ways:
1. Update item only: Go to your My Drive > choose a file or folder you want to limit access to for a specific user > Change the role of the specific user (e.g. from Commenter to Viewer) > click on “Update item only”
2. Limit folder access: Go to your My Drive > choose the folder you want to limit access > click the overflow menu > share > select share settings in the top right corner > click limit access to “Folder Name”.
Note: Around February 2026, only Option 2 will be available for restricting access to folders in My Drive. This feature is still developing and any updates will be communicated.
Additionally the “Editors can change permissions and share” setting will be receiving changes by August 2025:
- Turning the setting off will still prevent users with Editor access from sharing the item directly, but if the owner places the item into a shared folder, any changes to the containing folder’s access will be applied on the item. Previously, those changes were only applied if the item’s owner was the one making the folder access change.
- By August 2025, limited access will be applied to items that have this setting turned off. Due to the limited access, the owner will still be the only person who can share those pre-existing items. Limited access will not be applied to items that have the setting turned off after August 2025.
For more documentation about limiting access to folders and files, visit: Learn how to limit access to folders.
Feature Availability: This feature is rolling out now and is expected to be available by March 5, 2025.
For any questions, please contact Collaboration Services at [email protected].
Categories Google Drive & Docs Editors, Google Feature Updates and Changes, Google Workspace News, Important Changes