Jules Wang / AP

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Rejoice Google Drive users — the tech giant is rolling out a security feature that users have requested for a while now!

For reference, users have been able to set expirations on files and folders that reside in shared drives with the Google Drive API since 2023. Now, with what Google is rolling out, users will be able to set an access expiration on files and folders in shared drives directly from the ‘sharing dialog.’

The development should essentially make the process of limiting access to files a little bit easier.

This highly-requested feature brings the ease and security of My Drive access controls into your collaborative shared drives.

The feature is great for those working with temporary collaborators. Think freelancers hired for one specific project, collaborative school group projects, or something less serious, like sharing access to vacation photos and videos for a week.

For shared Drive folders specifically, users should now be able to apply an expiration date to the ‘Viewer role’ for situations when a collaborator only needs temporary read-only access. Once the need to collaborate is over, access is automatically terminated.

It’s worth noting that you can only set sharing expirations on Web and Android phones. “Expirations cannot be set on iOS devices in My Drive or shared drives,” wrote the tech giant.

No more manual cleanups

In addition to bringing new expiration access to Shared Drives, Google is also standardizing how access permissions revert when a temporary editing role expires.

Old behavior: If you granted someone temporary Editor access to a file inside a parent folder they could only view, they would lose all access to the file once their Editor permission expired.

New behavior: When their temporary Editor access expires, their permission will revert to the access they have on the parent folder (in this case, Viewer). They will not lose access to the file completely.

The new functionality is rolling out now and is expected to be widely available by the end of November across Google Workspace Business Starter, Standard, Plus, Enterprise Starter, Standard, Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Education Standard, Plus, Nonprofits, Frontline Starter, Standard, and Plus accounts.