Google is finally introducing a new option to restrict or limit access to folders in a shared Drive situation. This is part of the latest Workspace updates the company launched earlier today. Google has not finalized the update yet and as such it is still in beta. The tech giant has provided a form for interested and eligible customers if they want to test out the beta for their domains. You can find the form here.
The new option will be available as a "Limit access to" toggle. An administrator will be able to manage this feature from the Google Admin console via the "Manage shared drives" menu.
In the release notes Google explains how it will work:
Today, we’re introducing a beta that allows shared drive managers to restrict folders to specific users within a shared drive. This provides shared drive managers with greater flexibility to keep relevant content within a single shared drive, while restricting access to shared folders with sensitive information.
A folder with “limited access” can only be opened by people who have been added to it directly. People with general access to the shared drive or shared folder can see the restricted folder in Drive, but will not be able to open it.
Folders with limited access are available in both shared drives and My Drive:
- Shared drive managers can always access folders with limited-access
- Folder owners can always access limited-access folders in their My Drive
In a separate support article, Google has added how the Limit access option can be set up (images below for reference):
To create or edit limited access to a folder:
- On your computer, open drive.google.com.
- Right-click the folder for which you want to set up limited access.
- Click Share
Share Settings . - To enable limited access on the folder, turn on Limit access.
- Click Back
. In the sharing dialog, add or remove users to the folder.
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Aside from the option to restrict access to shared folders in Google Drive, the new Workspace update also adds multi-monitor support for Google Slides. The company says:
Multi-monitor support enables presenters to see Presentation View components, such as speaker notes and the timer, on one display, while displaying the slides presentation on an external monitor.
You can learn more about these updates on this page on Google"s official Workspace updates blog.