Locking Your Files in Google Drive: A New Level of Security

Have you ever experienced the frustration of someone making unauthorized edits to your important documents or Excel sheets? It can be disheartening when a colleague adds comments or modifies a file without first consulting you. Well, there’s good news! Google Drive has introduced a new feature that allows you to “lock” your files, preventing any unwanted edits or changes.

You Can Now “Lock” Documents In Google Drive

If you are a Google Workspace user, you now have the ability to lock your files in Google Drive. This ensures that your files remain unedited, regardless of anyone’s level of access. Even if someone has high-level access to the file, they won’t be able to make any changes without your explicit permission.

This exciting feature was recently announced in a Google Workspace Updates blog post. It aims to simplify and streamline the process of restricting files in Google Drive. To lock a document, simply open Google Drive and right-click on the desired file. Make sure you have edit access to the file. From the pop-up menu, select the “Lock” option to enable read-only mode for that particular file.

In the past, Google allowed users to restrict access to files using the Google Drive API and via dedicated file approvals. However, the new implementation offers a key difference – you can now lock a file at any time, even after it has been shared with a colleague. This was not possible before.

The file lock feature is currently being rolled out to Google Workspace users in the Rapid Release domain. It is expected to become available to all users within the next 15 days. For those under the Scheduled Release domain, the feature will go live from September 20, following a similar 15-day rollout period.

So, what are your thoughts on this nifty Google Drive feature? Will you be using it frequently? Share your opinions in the comment section below.