Change a shared document’s settings

If you’re the owner, you can view or change a shared document’s access and permission settings at any time.

If a document’s access is set to “Only people you invite,” you can also set a different permission for each individual.

View access and permission

  1. Do one of the following:

    • If the document is open: Tap the Collaborators button.

    • If the document is closed: Tap the green corner of the shared document in the document manager.

      A document thumbnail in the document manager showing the initials of its owner in the top-right corner

    The participant list appears. Participants can edit the document unless you see View Only below their name.

    If you’re the owner, a summary of the access and permission settings appears below Share Options; tap Share Options to see the details.

  2. To view permission for an individual, tap a name.

Change access for everyone

If you’re the owner of the document, you can change its access at any time, but anyone you shared the link with is affected. Here are the results of changing the setting:

  1. Do one of the following:

    • If the document is open: Tap the Collaborators button.

    • If the document is closed: Tap the green corner of the shared document in the document manager.

      A document thumbnail in the document manager showing the initials of its owner in the top-right corner
  2. Tap Share Options, then tap the access setting you want.

Anyone who has the document open when you change the setting sees an alert, and if your change causes the person to lose access to the document, it closes immediately. Otherwise, the new setting takes effect when they dismiss the alert.

Change permission for everyone

If you’re the owner of a shared document with access set to “Only people you invite,” you can quickly change everyone's permission.

  1. Do one of the following:

    • If the document is open: Tap the Collaborators button.

    • If the document is closed: Tap the green corner of the shared document in the document manager.

      A document thumbnail in the document manager showing the initials of its owner in the top-right corner
  2. Tap Share Options, then tap the permission option you want to set.

    Anyone who has the document open when you change the permission sees an alert. New settings take effect when they dismiss the alert.

Change permission or remove access for one participant

If you’re the owner of a shared document with access set to “Only people you invite,” you can change the permission for an individual without affecting the permission of others. You can also remove their access to the document.

  1. Do one of the following:

    • If the document is open: Tap the Collaborators button.

    • If the document is closed: Tap the green corner of the shared document in the document manager.

    A document thumbnail in the document manager showing the initials of its owner in the top-right corner
  2. Tap the person’s name, then tap an option.

    Anyone who has the document open when you change their permission sees an alert. The new setting takes effect when the alert is dismissed.

    If you choose Remove Access, the person is asked to close the document, and it’s removed from their iCloud Drive. Any edits they made to the document remain.

SEE ALSOCollaboration overviewInvite others to collaborateCollaborate on a shared documentStop sharing a document