How to Remove Access to Google Drive (Helpful Guide)

Well, Google Drive is one of the biggest cloud storage platforms available for anyone and everyone. You can choose to save all your files, media, and much more on the platform. In fact, you have the option to even share it with multiple people.

Now, there are times when you might need to revoke access to certain files or media and you can easily do it by reversing the operations you have done. If you know how to give access to your files on the Drive, you can also do it pretty easy when it comes to revoking the access.

Let us look at the process on how to remove access to Google Drive.

How to give access to Google Drive files and Media

Before we can directly jump over to how you can simply revoke access, you might need to know how you can give access. The process involved is similar in every platform you are using.

Since Google Drive is highly platform-independent, you can easily follow these steps on your smartphone.

Here is how you can give access to Google Drive files.

• Open Google Drive and sign in to your account
• Now, tap on one or multiple files you wish to give access to.
• Select the Share option.

Read: Google Drive Vs Google Docs

1. Share the file with specific people

• Tap on the Share option.
• Enter the email id or name of the person you want to share with.
• Tap on the drop-down menu and choose the action based on the permission you want to give such as Editor, Viewer, and Commentor.
• You can also check the box beside “Notify people” if you wish to send a notification to the person.

• Now, tap on Send.

2. Share the link

• Select the file on Google Drive
• Make a right-click and tap on Share.
• Remove restricted access by tapping on “Change to anyone with the link”.

• Select the option from the drop-down arrow with options as Viewer, Commentor, and Editor.
• Once done, copy the link and tap on Done.

All the above processes can be carried out easily on any platform such as mac, windows, smartphones, etc. Simply follow the steps described above and give access.

Read: How to Upload Video from Google Drive to YouTube

How to Remove Access to Google Drive

Well, finally we can take a look at the steps on how to remove access to Google Drive files and other media. You might have shared links or given access to your files to multiple people for editing, viewing, or even commenting.

If you do not wish to continue with that anymore, you can simply choose to revoke the permission by following the steps below.

1. Remove the User

• Open Google Drive and Sign in to your account.
• Make a right-click on a file or files to revoke access.
• Tap on Share.
• Look for the person you want to revoke access to.
• Click on the drop-down menu and tap on Remove.
• Now, click on Save.

2. Restrict the Link Sharing

• Open Google Drive and Sign in to your account.
• Select the file you wish to remove access from.
• Now, make a right-click on the file and choose Share.
• Head over to the option Change and click on it.
• Now, under the Get Link box, tap on the drop-down menu saying “Anyone with the link”

• Choose Restricted.

• Select Done to save the choice.

3. Remove the Shared file

The last option you can try is by simply deleting the file from your shared drive. In order to not let or remove access to others users, this could be the best solution with no hassle. 

Simply, choose to delete it and bring it to the trash. Now, you need to permanently get rid of the file to be on the safe side. You can do this by simply opening the trash and selecting the option to delete files permanently.

Read: What does green checkmark mean on Google Drive? and How to Empty Trash in Google Drive.

How to remove access to Google Drive on a Smartphone?

You can also try out the steps to remove access to Google Drive on your Android as well as iOS devices. These are very much similar to what you have already tried on your laptops, but to make it much more clear, you can directly follow the steps.

1. Remove the user 

• Open your Google Drive app on your device.
• Look for the file you wish to remove access for.
• Now, tap on the three dots beside it.

• Click on Share.

• Tap on the profile icon on the bottom to make changes.
• Now, tap on the user you wish to remove.

• Click on Remove.

Read How to Stop Getting Spam on Google Drive

2. Restrict the Link Sharing

• Open the Google Drive App on your Smartphone.
• Head over to the file you want to stop sharing with other users.
• Click on the three dots and tap on Share.
• Now, click on the Clip icon at the bottom.

• Tap on Change.

• Choose the option Restricted.

Once you have followed all the steps as above, your files will no longer be accessible to anyone with the link. Only you can access and make edits being the owner.

You may like the following Google drive articles:

• How to see folder size in Google Drive
• Remove Shared Files from Google Drive
• How to backup Quickbooks to Google Drive
• Unzip Files on Google Drive on Desktop and Smartphone
• How to delete files from google drive permanently?
• Google Drive Vs iCloud

Final Verdict

Well, here we are with every step you can follow on all the devices you one to revoke access to Google Drive files with other users. If you are already working on your laptops, then you can simply follow the steps for the desktop version. Or else, everyone has a Google Drive app on their smartphones, and there is no easier way than this to get the job done with a few simple clicks.

Furthermore, Google Drive even allows you to change the owner of the file and remove yourself from it. This makes it easier if you no longer want to be a part of the file you were shared. 

Also, if you permanently deleted any file on your Google Drive, you will no longer be able to restore it, so make sure that you keep them in the trash only if you are unsure. Furthermore, if you are facing any issues with Google Drive, you can let us know in the comment section below.