Do you want to remove all Google Drive access for a specific user and wondering if it is possible? It is possible, and I’ll show you how to do it in this short guide.
Firstly, you’ll learn to search for all the Google Files and folders shared with a user. After that, I’ll show you how to remove access for the user from all the files and folders.
The guide also includes frequently asked questions about Google Drive shares and access.
Step 1: Find all Google Drive Files and Folders Shared with a User
As I hinted in my introduction, the first step to removing someone’s email from all shares on Google Drive is to find the shares.
- Click the Advanced search icon on the top right of the Google Drive search box.
- After that, on the Google Drive Advanced search window, scroll to “Shared to,” enter the person’s email address and click Search.
Step 2: Remove the User from all Google Drive Shares
Now that you’ve found returned all the files and folders shared with a user continue with the steps below to remove the user’s access from Google Drive.
- After clicking search to return all files and folders shared with the user, click Ctrl + A to select all the items.
- Then, right-click the selected items, point to Share, and choose Share.
- To remove the Google Drive access for the user from all the items, click the “Mixed roles” drop-down. After that, select “Remove access.”
- Finally, click “Save.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. To mass remove someone’s access to multiple Google Drive files or folders, enter “to:[email protected]” into the search box.
When you click search, Google Drive returns all files and folders shared with the email [email protected]. Once the items are returned, you can remove the person’s access.
Right-click the Google Drive file or folder, point to Share, and click Share. This opens the Share permission for the item.
From there, you can add or remove email addresses to grant or revoke access.
On the Google Drive search box, enter the command – owner:[email protected] and click search.
Replace [email protected] with the email address of the person’s email address.
Unfortunately, as of July 2023, when we published this article, Google Drive does not have the feature to unshare the entire Google Drive.
Yes and No. Yes, someone else can access your Google Drive if you share a file or folder with them.
However, if you do not share an item with someone, they cannot access the item.
Conclusion
If you’ve been using Google Drive for a while, chances are that you would have shared multiple items with other people. After a while, you may want to unshare all the Google Drive files and folders you shared with a specific user.
Fortunately, there is an easy way to achieve this using the advanced Google Drive search. In this short guide, we shared the steps to accomplish this, and we hope you found it helpful.
If you did, kindly spread the word by sharing this article with your friends on social media. You may just be making someone’s day by doing so!
Additionally, to read other ilifeguides technology guides, visit our Technology page.
References and Further Reading
- (4) Can I remove one user from all Google drive folders and sub folders at once? – Quora
- Remove user access for all your Google Drive Docs >> Ask Yvi’s Blog
- Stop, limit or change sharing – Computer – Google Drive Help
