Sharing Options for Google Sheets

Simplified online collaboration among co-workers

Google Sheets
 Screenshot
by Ted French
Updated January 13, 2018

Google Sheets is the free online spreadsheet site that functions like Excel and similar spreadsheets. One of the key features of Google Sheets is that it encourages people to collaborate and share information over the internet.

Being able to collaborate on a Google Sheets spreadsheet is useful for companies that have off-site workers and also for co-workers who have difficulty coordinating their work schedules.

It can also be used by a teacher or organization that wants to set up a group project.

Google Sheets Sharing Options

Sharing a Google Sheets spreadsheet is easy. Simply add the email addresses of your invitees to the sharing panel in Google Sheets and then send the invitation. You have the option of allowing recipients to just view your spreadsheet, comment or edit it.

Google Account Required

All invitees must have a Google account before they can view your spreadsheet. Creating a Google account is not difficult, and it is free. If the invitees do not have an account, there is a link on the Google login page that takes them to the registration page.​​

Steps for Sharing a Google Sheets Spreadsheet With Specific Individuals

Gather the email address for each individual you want to have access to the spreadsheet. If anyone has more than one address, choose their Gmail address. Then:

  1. Log in to Google Sheets with your Google account.
  1. Create or upload the spreadsheet you want to share.
  2. Click on the Share button in the top right corner of the screen to open the Share with Others dialog screen.
  3. Add the email addresses of the people you want to invite to either view or edit your spreadsheet.
  4. Click the pencil icon next to each email address and choose one of three options: Can Edit, Can Comment or Can View.
  1. Add a note to accompanying the email to the recipients.
  2. Click on the Send button to send the link and note to each email address you entered.

If you send invitations to non-Gmail addresses, those individuals have to create a Google account using that email address before they can view the spreadsheet. Even if they have their own Google account, they are not able to use it to log in and view the spreadsheet. They must use the email address specified in the invitation.

To stop sharing a Google Sheets spreadsheet, simply remove the invitee's from the share list on the Share with Others dialog screen.

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