2 Easy Ways to Share a Google Doc Publicly

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By default, Google Docs sets your documents to private. If you want to share them with someone else, you can either create a public shareable link or invite them via email. You can also adjust the permission settings to make it public but not editable. Here's how to make a Google Doc public using your computer, iPhone, iPad, or Android.

Quick Steps
  1. Open a Google Docs document.
  2. Click Share in the top-right corner.
  3. Click Restricted and select Anyone with the link.
  4. Click Copy link.
  5. Paste or share the link to another app, email, or location.
Method 1 of 2:

Using a Web Browser

Step 1 Go to https://docs.google.com/.

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Go to https://docs.google.com/ in a web browser. If you aren't already logged into your Google account, enter your email address and password now.

Step 2 Open the document you want to make public.

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Step 3 Click Share.

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Step 4 Click Restricted and select Anyone with the link.

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Step 5 Click Viewer and select a new role.

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Step 6 Change the document permission settings (optional).

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Step 7 Click Copy link.

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Step 8 Share the link.

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Using the Mobile App

Step 1 Open the Google Docs app.

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Step 2 Tap ••• next to the document you want to share.

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Step 3 Tap Share.

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\n"> Tap Share . This is next to the person icon with a + sign.

Step 4 Tap the two people icon.

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Step 5 Tap Restricted twice.

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\n"> Tap Restricted twice. This will open the General access page and then the option to change it.

Step 6 Tap Anyone with the link.

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Step 7 Tap Viewer and select a new role.

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Step 8 Tap the link icon.

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Step 9 Share the link.

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Community Q&A

I published a Google Doc and made it public. I even submitted it to the Google crawler, but when I type in google "site: x" nothing shows up, and this is a week later. Does anyone know why?

Community Answer

Getting your content to show up on Google is difficult with all the competition out there. Try spreading the word or leaving a link on your website/s (if you have any) or social media profiles. It may take a long time for your Doc to show up in search.

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After making a Google Doc public, how can it be found on the web? I tried searching for it on Google - and no matter what I search - my Google Doc won't appear in the search results.

Community Answer

Make sure your sharing preferences are set to "Anyone on the web can access this". If you did, but it's still not on the web, maybe you should be more specific on what you're looking for.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow

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