Understand roles and access

Every shared paper has one owner (the person who created it) and people with one of three roles: Editor, Commenter or Viewer. The owner picks each person’s role in Share and can change it at any time.

What each role can do

	Owner	Editor	Commenter	Viewer
Read the paper	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Edit the text	Yes	Yes	No	No
See and add comments	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Resolve any comment	Yes	Yes	Only their own	No
See and use Version history	Yes	Yes	No	No
Change settings under For everyone on this paper	Yes	Yes	No	No
Add people, change roles, set General access	Yes	No	No	No
Approve requests for access	Yes	No	No	No
Publish or unpublish on the web	Yes	No	No	No
Delete the paper for everyone	Yes	No	No	No

A few more things to know:

• Viewers can’t see comments at all, so share as a commenter if you want feedback.
• Viewers and commenters see “Only editors can see this paper’s history” if they open Version history.
• Settings under Just for you in Paper settings, such as the typeface and autocomplete, only change your own view.
• If someone you shared with deletes the paper, it only leaves their list. You keep it.
• If you, the owner, delete it permanently, everyone you shared with loses it and its comments.
• Duplicate always makes a private copy. Sharing is not copied.

Ask for access to a paper

If you open a paper you don’t have access to, you see “This document is restricted”.

1. Check the account shown on the page. If the invite went to a different email address, sign in with that one, or add it to your account in Settings under Account. See Change your name, picture and email.
2. Choose what to ask for: View, Comment or Edit.
3. Click Request access.

The owner gets an email. You’ll get an email when they approve it, and the paper opens by itself if you still have the page open.

Ask to edit

If you can only view or comment, the paper shows View only or You can comment, with an Ask to edit button beside it. You’ll also find it in Share.

Click Ask to edit. You see “Request to edit sent”, followed by the day, and you can edit once the owner agrees.

You can send up to 15 requests a day, counting requests for access and requests to edit together. After that, you see “You’ve sent a lot of requests today. Try again tomorrow.”

Approve or deny a request (owners)

When someone asks for access, you get an email, and the Share button shows how many people are asking.

1. Click Share.
2. Under Requesting access, check who it is and what they want, for example “Wants to edit”.
3. Pick the role to give them. You can give less than they asked for.
4. Click Approve, or click the × next to them to deny the request.

Frequently asked questions

Can an editor invite other people?

No. Only the owner can add people, change roles or change who can open the link. Editors can edit the paper and its shared settings.

Why can't I see comments on a paper shared with me?

You're probably a viewer. Viewers can read the paper but can't see or add comments. Use Ask to edit, or ask the owner to make you a commenter.

If I duplicate a shared paper, is the copy shared too?

No. A duplicate is always a private copy for you. The people on the original don't get access to it.

Where to go next

Share a paperInvite people to edit, comment on or view your paper, or open it to anyone with the link.Work on a paper shared with youOpen a paper someone invited you to, find it again later, and see how other people's changes reach your copy.Add and reply to commentsComment on a passage or the whole paper, reply, react, and resolve comments when they're done.See and restore past versionsWriting Studio keeps snapshots of your paper as you write, so you can compare, copy or restore an earlier version.

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