How to Give Google Drive Request Access

Not everyone can access the files you have uploaded on your cloud storage platform. The only manner it can happen is when you make it accessible to particular people or make it public. And if anyone else tries to access the restricted file, they will need to go through the Google Drive request Access for every file.

We will discuss what these Google Drive requests are, how to approve or disapprove them, and everything else.

So, without any further ado, let’s get started –

Google Drive Request Access- What is it?

You can share every single folder or file that is in your Google Drive cloud storage with anyone through a link. Suppose you give access to one of your files or folders to someone, and they share the link of the folder with someone else.

Now, since the third person doesn’t have permission to access that file or folder, he will not be able to open it. If he tries to open the link, he will be redirected to a page where he will get the option to request access from you. This Google Drive request access page will look like this.

Read How to Disable Download Option in Google Drive

How to Request Access to a Google Drive Folder or File

Now, if he wants to open that document or folder, he has to ask you to grant them permission to access it. The easiest way to request access to a Google Drive file or folder is mentioned below –

• Click on the link to the folder you want to access
• You will be redirected to a page saying, “You need access.” Here, you will see a message box where you have to tell why you want to access this file or folder. You can leave it as it is, especially when you know the owner, but if not, we recommend you to type a message mentioning why you need to access this file. 
• Now, click on the Request Access button.

This will send a request to the owner of the file. If the owner approves your request, you will be able to access the file or the folder.

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How to Approve Google Drive Request Access

Whenever someone requests to access a file or folder stored in your Google Drive, you will receive an email notifying that this person (email of the person) is requesting to access the following folder. This email will look something like this

Here, you get two options to approve this request. You can approve the request right away, or you can go to the sharing settings to do it.

For the instant technique, you just have to select the permission (viewer, editor, or commentator) you want to grant to this user from the drop-down menu and click on the Share button. Doing this will allow that person to access the folder or the file.

How to Approve Request Access in Google Drive through Sharing Settings

Alternatively, you can open the sharing settings to grant that user permission to access that file or folder. For this, you have to follow these simple steps –

• Open the email that you’ve received regarding the access request.
• Here, you will see the Open sharing settings button. You have to click on it.

• It will take you to the Google Drive sharing settings page. Here you have to assign a role for that user.
• After selecting the role, you have to click on the Send button.

That’s it. Now that the user has access to that file or folder.

Read How to Request Edit Access in the Google Drive Folder

How to Approve Google Drive Request Access on a Smartphone

You can also approve the request for access directly from your smartphone. However, for this, you need to have the Google Drive mobile application installed on your smartphone.

Follow this simple guide to accept the request for access on a smartphone:

• Open the Google Drive mobile application
• Log in using your Google account credentials. You can skip this step if you are already logged in.
• Now, tap on the Notifications tab
• Here, you will see all of the requests that you have received so far to access your Google Drive files and folders. Find the request you want to approve, and tap on the Sharing settings option
• Here, you will get the option to set permission access for that user. You can provide them access as a viewer, editors, or commentators
• After that, tap on the send message button

That’s it. This is how you can approve a Google Drive request access on a smartphone.

Closing Comments

There you have it – a detailed guide on Google Drive request access.

Google Drive request access is one of the most common queries amongst Google Drive users. Since people are now disabling the download option, users are unable to access any of these files and hence require request access from the owner.

There are no loopholes in such a situation that you can bypass and hence you will have to wait for the owner of that document to give you access in the end.

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