Restricting a document to specific people
Lock a sensitive file down when org-shared-by-default isn't right.
3 min read · Updated June 28, 2026
Documents in a team org are shared with everyone by default. When something is sensitive, mark it restricted and grant access only to specific people or groups.
Restrict a document
- 1Open the document and choose Restrict access.
- 2Add the individual people or groups who should see it, each as view or edit.
- 3Save. Everyone else in the org can no longer find or open it.
How it behaves
- A document you can't see returns a plain not found: its very existence isn't leaked, you never get a revealing "forbidden".
- The document's owner, and any Owner or Admin, can still see it (they bypass restrictions).
- Restricted documents are never exposed through a collection link to someone who couldn't already see them.
Good to know
Restricting a folder hides the folder itself, not the documents filed inside it. Each document carries its own access, so to protect what's in a folder, restrict those documents directly.
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