How to create and share a Google Drive folder with customized sharing settings

Nearly every major business or school uses at least one Google application. Google Drive is one of the most popular and versatile.
Google Drive lets you share photos, music, spreadsheets, and more to anyone that has an email address, as well as organize those files into folders.
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These days, Google has an application for pretty much everything you'd need to do online, including creating and sharing documents, files, and folders. You can upload everything from photos to PDFs to MP3s onto Google Drive , Google's file hosting service, and in just a few minutes, you can share them with anyone whose email address you have.

Sharing folders that contain documents, files, and other uploads via Google Drive is quick and easy, especially since pretty much everyone uses at least one Google product these days (and likely several of them).

Here's how to do it.

How to share folders on Google Drive

1. To create your own folder on Google Drive, navigate to https://drive.google.com in your internet browser. Note that you will need to be logged into your Google account; Drive will prompt you to do so if you haven't already.

2. Once signed in and at the above URL, you will see all of the files and folders currently stored on your Google Drive account.

3. To create a new folder, navigate to the "New" button in the upper left-hand corner of your screen, beneath the Google Drive logo, and click on it.

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4. You will see a drop-down menu of options, including one for "Folder." Clicking on this will allow you to create a new folder from scratch. (Note that if you already have a folder of documents on your computer that you would like to upload in its entirety, you should choose the "Folder upload" option in this menu.)

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5. After clicking on "New" and then "Folder," you will be given a pop-up window in which to enter the title of your folder. Call it whatever you like.

5. Once you enter a title for your folder and hit the Enter or Return key on your keyboard, you will see the folder appear in your Google Drive file list. Click the title of your folder to open it.

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6. From here, you can upload files to your folder by either dragging and dropping them into the window from your computer, or you can upload manually by right clicking on the screen and selecting the "Upload files" option.

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7. Once you have the files uploaded that you want to share, it's time to share the folder. Doing so is simple! First, make sure to open the folder. Then, click on the folder title in the menu at the top of the screen. A drop down menu will appear, and from there you should select the option to share by clicking "Share."

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8. A pop-up window will appear that allows you to enter the name or email address of the person you would like to share the folder with. Note that entering a person's name will only work if they are part of your contacts list and therefore their email address will be auto-generated. You can add as many people as you'd like to the sharing permissions; simply press the enter key after inputting each person's address.

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9. Once you've put in the email addresses of anyone you want to share the folder with, hit "Send" and an invitation to open the folder will be sent.

10. If you would rather share the folder directly, via instant message or text, you can get a URL by clicking "Get shareable link" in the upper right-hand corner of the pop-up window that appears after you hit "Share." Simply click on "copy link" and you can then paste it to the recipient directly.

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It's also worth noting that you can and should ensure that you're setting proper file sharing permissions to ensure the safety of your files. This option can be seen in the "shareable link" pop-up, where you have the option to allow those with the folder's link to edit its contents or simply view them.

There you have it! Uploading and sharing folders on Google Drive is easy, and the more you do it, the quicker the process becomes.