| Editor for a week

Leaving documents behind is never a good idea. Google Workspace can now automatically clean up security gaps for you.

Expiration dates keep you safe

Sharing files is the backbone of modern work. But while sharing within teams and organizations is encouraged, the borders around organizations (and sometimes around special teams) should be handled with care.

When you share access to files, that access remains until you revoke it, the file gets deleted or you or the recipient's account gets deactivated. Because modern work requires so much information sharing, "revoking" rarely happens. Until now, the best practice has been to add files to a Shared Drive or (worse, but still acceptable) a single folder that is shared and can be unshared easily.

Adding files to repositories is not always flexible enough. Therefore, our most secure file storage solution lets you automatically expire access for single files.

How to add expiration dates

To share temporarily, start sharing a file like you normally would. Once you have determined the level of access a group or person should receive, you can add a date when that permission expires.

When the expiration day passes, the person will be removed from the sharing dialog and no longer have the access you specified. You can only expire links with people, not with "anybody with the link" - but you can temporarily make someone editor for a file that is shared with everyone as "can view", and they would soon revert to be a viewer!

Any file on My Drive, you can share with an expiration date. If you share with two people, their access can expire at different dates. The same applies to folders, but there is a catch: You can only make others "viewer" or "commenter" with an expiration date. "Editors" cannot have an expiration date. I expect this to change because files had this limitation as well. And I hope this comes to shared drives, too - this security feature makes sense everywhere.

How related Google Workspace features keep your data safe

Google Workspace is a closed system that helps you control who sees your data. If you have files that others need only see, but not edit, share them with viewer or commenter rights. You can remove their ability to print and download your files even after you share files, or to prevent others from sharing your files further. And it is now possible to have every level of access expire after a period of time.

To lock down large amounts of files, use hardened shared drives. Shared drives not only protect you against people leaving the company, but also offer detailed content control if desired, such as "only members can access" or "no external people can be added".

If you need certainty that your emails and their attachments are not forwarded, downloaded and can be recalled, use confidential mode. It is the equivalent of expiring access and works even if the recipient does not use Gmail.

Who thought cleanups and security could be so simple? If I can get you to share a single file with expiring access today, or add an expiration date to a sensitive file someone has shared, my mission is complete. Thank you for reading!

Join 2100+ people who read these tips weekly. Subscribe now!