How to share “make a copy” links to your google files

Brady Gavin
Brady Gavin
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Brady Gavin has been immersed in technology for 15 years and has written over 150 detailed tutorials and explainers. He’s covered everything from Windows 10 registry hacks to Chrome browser tips. Brady has a diploma in Computer Science from Camosun College in Victoria, BC. Read more.

Google Drive lets you send a file to others with a link to “Make a Copy” while maintaining the original. The copy is then saved into the recipient’s Drive where they can edit it however they want.

This guide works for Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawing files. We’ll be using Docs, but the procedure for each service is essentially the same.

Fire up the Google Docs homepage and open a file you want to share with someone to make a copy. Right-click the URL in the address bar and click “Copy.”

Next, open Gmail and compose a new message to the recipient. Paste the URL into the body of the message with Ctrl+V (Windows/Chrome OS) or Cmd+V (macOS), click on it to bring up the More menu, and then click on “Change.”

At the very end of the URL, change “Edit” to “Copy” and then click “OK” to save the web address.

Once the URL has been edited and embedded how you like, click “Send.”

Finally, before the email is actually sent, Google prompts you to give the recipient access to the file. Verify the permissions and click “Send” a second time.

When the other person receives the email and clicks the link, they’re redirected to a page that lets them make a copy of the file, which then saves it to their Drive.

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Brady Gavin
Brady Gavin has been immersed in technology for 15 years and has written over 150 detailed tutorials and explainers. He’s covered everything from Windows 10 registry hacks to Chrome browser tips. Brady has a diploma in Computer Science from Camosun College in Victoria, BC.
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Sometimes people prefer Adobe PDF files because they’re easy to print, download, and open in existing programs.

If you’re working in Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides, there’s no need to convert your files to PDFs every time you want to share them.

Instead, send a link to a PDF version of your file.

Benefits

• You don’t have to re-share PDFs or update PDF links if you change the source file. The link always goes to the most recent version.
• Save email storage space and avoid attachment size limits.
• You don’t need multiple versions of your files, such as a PDF and a source file—all the versions are stored in a single file.

Share your document

1. In Google Drive, select your file.
2. Click Share .
3. Enter the names or email addresses of the people you want to share the document, spreadsheet, or presentation with.
4. Choose their permission level (edit, comment, view).
5. Click Send.

Copy, paste, and send the PDF link

1. In Drive, select your file.
2. Click Share .
3. Click Copy link and click Done.
4. After you paste the link, change the end of the URL before sending it. For example:
   1. Before:
      • /edit?usp=sharing
      • /edit?usp=sharing
      • /edit?usp=sharing
   2. After:
      • /export?format=pdf
      • /export?format=pdf
      • /export/pdf

   Note: If your shared file is large, it may take a little time to download.

   Google, Google Workspace, and related marks and logos are trademarks of Google LLC. All other company and product names are trademarks of the companies with which they are associated.

   How to Force Recipients to Make a Copy of a Google Document Print

   Modified on: Mon, Nov 23, 2020 at 11:11 AM

   When you’re sharing a Google Document with someone else, it’s usually because you’d like their feedback or their help with editing the presentation, document, or spreadsheet. But sometimes, you really just want your recipient to make a copy of the original document. Maybe you’re sending a worksheet to a class of 20 students and you want them all to complete and return their own copy of the original worksheet. Or maybe you’re sending a template roster document to several group leaders and you want them each to copy and complete their own copies of the roster.

   In this tutorial, I’ll show you a trick that will force your recipients to make copies of shared Google Docs.

   For this method to work, it’s worth mentioning that both you and your recipients will need to have Google accounts.

   1. First, open your template document (the one you want to distribute), click on the Share button.

   2. You need to make sure that your recipients can view this document. You can grant them higher permissions (commenting or editing privileges), but in most cases “Viewer” is what you want.

   3. Click on the small gear button in the sharing dialog box. Ensure that the box labeled “Viewers and commenters can see the option to download, print, and copy” is checked. Click the back arrow to return to the sharing dialog box, then close it.

   3. While viewing your template document, select the document’s URL and press Ctrl + C to copy it.

   4. Now, you want to get this link to your recipients via email, embedding it in a webpage, or sending it via a messaging app (like Hangouts). Whatever method you use, first you want to make an important change to this long string of gobbly-gook. Paste that copied URL, delete the word “edit” that appears at the end, and replace it with the word “copy”:

   5. This new, modified URL you’ve created is the one you want to send to your recipient. When they click on your modified link, they’ll see a dialog box from Google asking if they want to make a copy of the document.

   6. If your recipient clicks “Make a copy”, a new copy of the document will appear in their Google Drive. This new copy will be private to them. You won’t have access to it, and neither will editors or collaborators on the original template.

   Apart from being completely free, one thing that makes the Google office suite so useful is the ability to share and edit files on the go. All you have to do is add the e-mail of the desired user and set the required permission. The subsequent edits he or she does in the files will be visible to you as well. Everything fine till here. But what if you don’t want the person to make changes to the original file but rather a copy of the same. In those cases, you may take the help of the below steps to create and share “make a copy” links of Google Docs file. These steps aren’t just limited to Google Docs but work for Google Sheets and Slides as well.

   Create and Share “Make a Copy” Links

   “Make a copy” links are the links to your Docs, Sheets or Slides files. Clicking them will let the receiver download a copy of the desired file. He may then make any changes that he wishes to. These modifications will be limited to this file only and wouldn’t have any effect on the original file. Follow the steps to create and subsequently share these “make a copy” links.

   1. Open the desired Google Docs, Sheets or Slides file that you wish to make a copy of. We would be using a Docs file in this guide.
   2. Copy the URL of that file from the address bar.
      
   3. Open Gmail and enter the recipient’s email address. Now, paste that URL into the body of the message.
   4. Click on the URL to bring about a set of options. Click on Change.
      
      
   5. Towards the end of the “make a copy” link, you would see the ‘edit’ keyword. Change it to ‘copy’.
   6. Moreover, instead of directly sending this “make a copy” link as is, you may embed it within a text to give it a more professional look. To do so, type in the desired text under the Text to display section. Once done, click OK.
      
   7. Finally, hit the Send button. In this instance, Google will prompt you to give the recipient access to this file. You may choose from the following permissions: View, Comment or Edit. Click on Send when you are done.
      
   8. The email with the embedded link will now be sent. When the recipient opens it, they will be redirected to a Google Docs page. This page will have a Make a copy link button, clicking on the same will get the recipient a copy of that file. He or she may now modify it as they wish, without affecting the original one.
      

   With this, we conclude the guide on how to create and share “Make a copy” links of Google Docs file. Let us know your views on the same down in the comments section below.

   Google drive makes it easy to share files and folders with others. but when you use a shareable link, you can make collaboration so much easier. in this vide. On your computer, go to drive.google . click the folder you want to share. click share . at the top right, click get shareable link. next to “anyone with the link,” click the down arrow . choose whether people can edit or view. copy and paste the link in an email or any place you want to share it. You can share any google drive file or folder with anyone using a link or you can send a direct email out of google drive.when inviting someone to a document. How to share google drive files & folders with a link this is exactly what they will see on their end when they click on the link, they’re gonna have access to these files and they can open them up, they can click on my bio, they can download it, they can print it out if they want, of course, they can’t edit it, they can download my pictures. Click the file you want to share. click share or share . share multiple files. on a computer, go to drive.google . on your keyboard, hold shift and select two or more files. at the top right, click share . learn how to add files to a folder and share the entire folder. send & share google forms.

   Share Docs And Assignments With Students Using Google Drive Shared Folders Educational

   How to share google drive files or folders with a link. you can share any google drive file or folder with anyone using a link or you can send a direct email out of google drive. when inviting someone to a document google drive makes it easy to share files and folders with others. but when you use a shareable link, you can make collaboration so much easier. in this video in this video tutorial. In a shared drive, choose an option: select one file or folder you want to share. press and hold shift and select multiple files or folders to share. at the top, click share . (optional) to specify what people can do with your file or folder when you share it, under your organization name, click change :. Open the homescreen for google drive, google docs, google sheets, or google slides. select a file or folder. click share or share . find the person you want to stop sharing with. to the right of their name, click the down arrow remove. to save changes, click save. restrict link sharing for a file or folder.

   One of the key Google skills you should be aware of is how to make a copy of your Google files. Also, if you would like others to access your work, you should know the method to share ‘Make a Copy’ links to your Google files with them. This article familiarizes you with the process.

   Share ‘Make a copy’ links to your Google files

   • Google Docs
   • Google Sheets
   • Google Slides, etc.
   1. Open Google Docs
   2. Change the URL and save the Web Address
   3. Allow the recipient to have access to the file

   The method can be used to create templates for files, such as Docs proposals, Sheets project plans, Slides pitch decks. Once done, your teammates can quickly copy them.

   1] Open Google Docs

   Open Google Docs homepage and go to the file you would like to share with someone and enable him to make a copy of it.

   Once opened, go to the address bar and right-click on the URL to see ‘Copy’ option.

   When seen, click the option.

   Next, open your Gmail account to compose a new message.

   Click the ‘Compose’ button located on the left-side bar menu.

   When the message window opens, address (compose the message) the recipient.

   2] Change the URL and save the Web Address

   Now, in the message body, paste the URL.

   Click the message to bring up the ‘More’ menu, and then click on ‘Change’ link.

   Place the mouse cursor at the very end of the URL and change the ‘Edit’ option to ‘Copy’.

   Click ‘OK’ button visible at the bottom to save the web address.

   Once the URL has is edited as desired, choose ‘Send’.

   3] Allow the recipient to have access to the file

   Before the email message is delivered, Google will prompt you to give the recipient access to the file. Verify the permissions and click ‘Send’ again.

   Upon receiving the email message, if the recipient clicks the link, he’ll be redirected to a page that lets him make a copy of the file, which can be saved to his/her Drive.

   Thus, after completing the above steps in the sequence you can enable your colleagues to create personal copies of your files—such as presentations, reports, or designs and let them make changes to it as per their convenience.

   Date: November 29, 2019 Tags: Google

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   [email protected]

   A post-graduate in Biotechnology, Hemant switched gears to writing about Microsoft technologies and has been a contributor to TheWindowsClub since then. When he is not working, you can usually find him out traveling to different places or indulging himself in binge-watching.

   Looking to take advantage of our free resources? Here’s how to save your own version of a shared Google Docs document.

   7 -minute read

   Google Docs is a great way to share and collabourate on documents, it has heaps of useful features which make it a winner in our eyes.

   Many of our free resources and created using Google Docs because it allows us to create documents that can be easily downloaded and edited – all without trying to work out what software you need to edit them.

   If you’ve not used Google Docs before, or need a quick refresher, here’s how to download your own copy of our resources to keep.

   Click on the resource link

   The first step in the process is to simply click on the link to the resource so that it opens in your browser.

   Once it’s open you’ll now have two possible routes to take depending on how you’d like to use the resource.

   If you use Google Docs (or want to)

   If you use Google Docs – or would like to – then you can sign in and create a copy of the resource to your account. The advantage is that you will be able to directly edit the document.

   1: Sign in to your Google account

   With your resource open, sign in to your Google account if you are not already.

   2: Make a copy of the resource

   Go to ‘File’ and then ‘Make A Copy’ to create your own version of the file, then save it to your Drive.

   3: Start editing your resource

   That’s it! Once you click ‘ok’ your copy of the resource will open and you’ll be able to start editing it. Any changes you make to this document will only be visible to you unless you choose to share it. Any edits you make to your copied document won’t affect the original resource.

   If you don’t use Google Docs

   If you don’t use Google Docs or would prefer to have a copy of the resource saved to your hard drive then you can simply download your own copy.

   1: Download your resource

   You’ll then be offered a variety of file formats for you to download your resource. The choice you make here is up to you and may depend on the software you have installed.

   Here’s a quick rundown of some of the options:

   • Microsoft Powerpoint/Office app: Ideal for editing the document using an office suite such as MS Office or Apple Keynote/Pages. Results may vary as different apps may shift or replace items and fonts.
   • PDF document: A high quality download that may allow you to edit the document in professional editing software such as Adobe Illustrator/Affinity Designer.
   • PNG image: Ideal if you just want to keep an image file of the document to refer back to.

   Editing the resource in Apple Keynote

   Generally, there’s no limit to the amount of times you can download the resource so feel free to download different file types to see which ones you prefer to work with.

   Sharing Google Forms is tricky. You do not want to make your data you collect in your Google Form visible to others. You can not get a view only link from the Form directly and changing your Google Form to allow others to edit is dangerous. Google Forms does NOT have a revision history. If you create a formative assessment quiz or parent survey and want to allow another teacher to use what you created it is important that the other teacher makes a COPY of the Google Form. You do not want their Form results to be mixed in with your Form results.

   1. Create a folder in Google Drive

   Anything in a folder takes on the sharing permissions of the folder. To set your Form as anyone with the link can view you need to do this at the folder level. Create a new folder in Google Drive or utilize an existing folder in Google Drive.

   2. Sharing Permissions Should Allow View Access

   By default, the folder permissions are set to private. Change the folder permissions to anyone with the link can view.

   3. Create or Place Form in the Folder

   Since anything in the folder inherits the sharing permissions of the folder, any Forms in the folder are changed to view access. This does NOT give viewers view access to the edit screen. Sharing the link to the edit screen of a Google Form shows the live Form.

   Note: when you create a spreadsheet it will also be created in that same folder and thus have “anyone with the link can view” permissions. Without the link to the folder or the direct link to the spreadsheet others would not be able to find the spreadsheet, but be aware that the spreadsheet is no longer private. You can manually click on the blue share button of the spreadsheet and change back to private.

   4. Copy the Edit URL

   While you are on the edit screen, meaning you have the ability to edit questions and view responses, copy the link at the top of the screen. I like to use Control L to highlight the URL and Control C to copy.

   The link on the edit screen ends in /edit. The link on the live view of the Form ends in /viewform.

   Edit Link:
   1KMHW4lRgtHSoaUBMce0djPmD_y-CWXn2NCPoclstGVI/ edit

   View Link:
   1FAIpQLSdGnz5xezn9z9i3Ubbd-BzoNjCAtzWVbh8MpgdmAUiAHegvVQ/ viewform

   Notice the ID is different for each of the links. The edit link has a unique ID from the view link. This prevents unauthorized copying of Google Forms. However, it is important that you copy the correct link.

   5. Change /edit to /copy

   At the end of the edit URL is /edit. You want to modify this to say /copy at the end.

   It seems like the Make a Copy option only works for individual files (not for folders).

   When somebody shares a folder with me on Google Drive, how can I make a copy of that folder in my own Google Drive account?

   20 Answers 20

   You can get all your data copy to your drive by using Google Colab.
   Just follow the simple steps to get that.

   1. On your drive, create a shortcut to the shared folder
   2. Open
   3. Create new Notebook
   4. Mount your google drive by doing the following:
   1. First right click on the shared folder, click ‘Add Shortcut to Drive’ to create a symlink of the folder to your drive. You can delete this afterwards.
   2. Type:
   1. Type pwd to check the current path. It should start like this /gdrive/.shortcut-targets-by-id//yoursharedfoldernameetc .
      Copy this path.
   2. Run this:

   And there you go. It will start copying all shared folder content to your destination folder.

   Sounds like you want a deep copy without any previous reference to the original folders & documents. Under these circumstances:

   1. Download the folder.
      
   2. Extract content
   3. Upload to your drive.

   Here’s another way to copy a folder with an external application:

   1. Add the folder to “My Drive”.
   2. Open your account with a website:
   3. Find the folder – and create a copy into the account.

   *The service is free up to 50 gigabytes per month.

   If your Google Account supports “Drive File Stream” – you can access the contents of the folder simply from Windows Explorer or the Command Prompt – and copy the files just as you would do on a local drive.

   Inspired by Hamza Safdar’s answer, I created an end-to-end Colab for those who are not familiar with Python and Colab at here.

   Screenshot:

   In case people can not access the Colab above, I also add the code as follows:

   I just had exactly the same issue. And I copied everything successfully via this open-source service:

   After you finish your copy, do remember to revoke your granted permission to this app.

   The proper, updated answer as per today (2020-06-24) for activate the previous available now hidden functionality for saving a Shared with Me folder into your Google Drive as an active working link available at your computer or drive, is to press Shift + Z and then click on the Shared Folder (ref.).

   What was Marikamitsos and Hamza Safdar said really works! Thank you so much, but I cannot both vote and comment on your post since I am a new member. I am here just to thanks Marikamitsos and Hamza Safdar and share with the others the details of the step.

   Initially, tbh, as a common person that didn’t know anything about Google Colab, I am very confused. I suffered trying many times. Eventually, I yell when it becomes a success. Hopefully, I can make it easy for someone who didn’t know anything about Google Colab like me.

   1. Create a shortcut of the shared by right-clicking the folder => click “Add shortcut to Drive”
   1. Open the Google Colab website: => click Create a new Notebook
   1. Insert your drive by typing in that blank space :

   from google.colab import drive

   drive.mount(‘/gdrive’)

   Click a play button / Ctrl + Enter

   1. Then, they will ask “Enter your authorization code”

   Simply just open the given URL => choose the same google account that contains your destination drive => allow access => you will get the authorization code

   Copy the authorization code to the column “Enter your authorization code”

   Click a play button / Ctrl + Enter

   1. Know the shared folder’s address by typing in that blank space :

   %cd /gdrive/My\ Drive/Name of shared folder

   You must change the “Name of shared folder” with the name of your shared folder For example: %cd /gdrive/My Drive/Mango

   Click a play button / Ctrl + Enter

   It should appear the shared folder’s address in the bottom like this: For example: /gdrive/.shortcut-targets-by-id/blabalabla/Mango

   1. The final step, create a new folder using the shared folder address and the address of folder that you want, by typing :

   cp -r ‘shared folder address’ ‘the address of folder that you want’

   For example: !cp -r ‘/gdrive/.shortcut-targets-by-id/blabalabla/Mango’ ‘/gdrive/My Drive/Orange’

   Click a play button / Ctrl + Enter

   Wait until the process is done. Hupla! Your shortcut of the folder shared file already copied into the folder that you give the name.