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Sharing and comments

Work on a paper shared with you

Open in ChatGPT

Open a paper someone invited you to, find it again later, and see how other people's changes reach your copy.

When someone shares a paper with you, you get an email inviting you to it. Click the link in the email and sign in with the same email address the invite went to. The paper opens, and it stays in your documents list from then on.

Open a paper from an invite

  1. Open the invite email and click its link.
  2. Sign in, or create a free account, with the email address the invite was sent to. The sign-in page reminds you: “Use the email the invite went to.”
  3. The paper opens.

If you sign in with a different address, you see “This document is restricted” and a note that the invite went to a different email address. Sign in with that address, or add it to your account in Settings under Account (see Change your name, picture and email), then open the link again.

Find shared papers later

Papers shared with you sit alongside your own:

  • In Documents, they’re labelled “Shared with you”, along with what you can do, for example “Shared with you · can edit”. See Find and open your documents.
  • On the home screen, they can appear in the Pick up where you left off cards with the label “Shared with you”.

Know what you can do

When you open the paper, the Share dialog tells you your role: “Shared with you as an editor”, “a commenter” or “a viewer”.

  • Editors can write in the paper, comment and see Version history.
  • Commenters see You can comment and can add comments but not edit the text.
  • Viewers see View only. They can read the paper but can’t see or add comments.

If you need to do more, click Ask to edit. The owner gets an email, and you can edit once they agree. See Understand roles and access.

How other people’s changes reach you

Writing Studio is not a real-time editor. There are no live cursors, and you won’t watch other people type.

Your copy of the paper checks for changes every 30 seconds while it’s open, and again whenever you come back to the tab. So when someone else saves an edit, it shows up for you within about 30 seconds.

If two people edit at the same time

If you and someone else change the paper at almost the same moment, the newer saved copy loads. Your copy isn’t lost: it goes into Version history, and you see “A newer version loaded. Yours is in Version history.” with an Open button.

Click Open to see your copy, then copy back anything you need. See See and restore past versions.

Make your own copy

To work on a version nobody else can see, open the paper’s ⋯ menu and choose Duplicate (this is there when you can edit the paper). The copy is private to you. Its sharing is not copied.

Remove a shared paper from your list

Deleting a paper someone shared with you only takes it off your list. The owner and everyone else keep it, with its comments.

Frequently asked questions

Why does the paper say it's restricted when I open the invite?

You're probably signed in with a different email address from the one the invite went to. Sign in with that address, or add it to your account in Settings under Account, then open the link again.

Do I see other people's changes live?

No. Writing Studio is not a real-time editor. Your copy checks for changes every 30 seconds and when you come back to the tab, so other people's edits show up within about 30 seconds.

If I delete a shared paper, does the owner lose it?

No. Deleting a paper someone shared with you only removes it from your list. The owner and everyone else keep it.