How to Prevent Downloading, Printing, and Copying of Google Drive and Shared Drive Files

How to prevent downloading, printing, and copying of Google Drive and Shared Drive files

By default, anyone with viewing or commenting access to a Google Drive or Shared Drive file can download, print or copy the content. When sharing files publicly through Google Drive, you can restrict the ability to download, print or copy your files. 

To protect your shared content:

Files in My Drive:

1. Open your file in Google Docs, Slides or Sheets
2. Click Share
3. Click the gear icon (settings) in the top-right corner
4. Uncheck the box that says "Viewers and commenters can see the option to download, print, and copy."

Files in Shared Drives:

Shared Drive Managers can change the setting at the Shared Drive level to remove the ability for viewers and commenters to download, print or copy files. This setting will affect all files in the Shared Drive and drive members will not be able to change the setting at the file level. 

If the default setting was not changed at the Shared Drive level, members can change the setting at the file level following the same steps as you would for files in My Drive. 

Good to know

• This helps protect your original work from being widely redistributed.
• Editors can still download and copy - only viewers and commenters are restricted.
• This won't prevent screenshots, but it does discourage easy reuse or unauthorized distribution.

Article by Karen Matthes, Extension Learning Technologies, klm@umn.edu