Files

After you set up iCloud Drive, you can share folders and individual files with friends and colleagues. When you make changes to a shared folder or file, others see your changes automatically, and if you allow people to make edits, their changes appear automatically as well.

You can also send a copy of a file or folder, invite more people to collaborate, or share it with more people using a link.

Files and folders you share in iCloud Drive have these important characteristics:

• If you collaborate on a folder, all items added to that folder by you or other participants are automatically shared.
• The link to a shared file includes its name. If the name or content is confidential, be sure to ask recipients not to forward the link to anyone else.
• If you move a shared file to another folder or location, the link no longer works, and people lose access to the item.
• Depending on the app, users might need to reopen a file or tap the original link to see the latest changes.

Share or collaborate on a file or folder

For a file or folder you own in iCloud Drive, you can invite other people to view its contents or collaborate on them.

A file or folder can be shared so only people you pick can open it, or so anyone with the link can.

Allow changes to the contents of a file or folder, or restrict access so people can only view the contents.

1. Open the Files app on your iPhone.
2. Go to a location and then touch and hold the file or folder you want to share.
3. Tap the Share button, tap the menu under the item’s title, and tap Share a Link.
4. To change who can access the file or folder and whether they can edit or just view and download, tap People you choose can edit and then do any of the following:
   • Only allow people you invite or approve to access the file or folder: Tap People you choose.

     Note: When you select “People you choose,” you can turn on Access Requests, which lets other people with the link ask you to approve their access.

   • Allow anyone with the link to access the file or folder: Tap Anyone with the link.
5. Under New Participants Can, choose whether participants can edit or view and download only.
6. Choose how you want to send your invitation.

Send a copy of a file or folder

1. Open the Files app on your iPhone.
2. Go to a location and then touch and hold the file or folder you want to share.
3. Tap the Share button and tap the menu under the item’s title. Then tap Send a Copy.
4. Choose how you want to send your copy.

Invite more people to collaborate on a folder or file

If a folder or file you already shared has access set to “People you choose,” you can share it with more people.

1. Open the Files app on your iPhone.
2. Tap Shared.
3. Touch and hold the folder or file you want to share.
4. Tap Manage Shared Folder or Manage Shared File.
5. Tap Add Participant and choose a method for sending the link.
6. Enter any other requested information. Send or post the invitation.

Share a folder or file with more people using a link

When you set access to a shared folder or file to “Anyone with the link,” anyone who has the link can share it with others.

1. Open the Files app on your iPhone.
2. Tap Shared.
3. Touch and hold the folder or file you want to share.
4. Tap Manage Shared Folder or Manage Shared File. Then tap Copy Link.
5. Choose a method for sending the link, enter any other requested information, and send or post the invitation.

Change access and permission settings for everyone

Owners of a shared folder or file can change its access at any time. It affects everyone you shared the link with.

1. Open the Files app on your iPhone.
2. Touch and hold the folder or file whose permissions you want to change.
3. Tap Manage Shared Folder or Manage Shared File, then tap Sharing Options.
4. Change either or both of the options.
   • Access option: When you change the access option from Anyone with the link to People you choose, the original link no longer works for anyone, and only people who receive a new invitation from you can open the folder or file.
   • Permission option: When you change the permission option, everyone who has the file open when you change the permission sees an alert. New settings take effect when the alert is dismissed.

Change access and permission settings for one person

As the owner of a shared folder or file with access set to “People you choose,” you can change one person’s permission without affecting anyone else’s. You can also remove that person’s access.

1. Open the Files app on your iPhone.
2. Touch and hold the folder or file whose permissions you want to change.
3. Tap Manage Shared Folder or Manage Shared File.
4. Tap the person’s name, then select an option.

Stop sharing a folder or file

If you’re the owner of a shared folder or file, you can stop sharing it.

1. Open the Files app on your iPhone.
2. Open the location of the folder or file you want to stop sharing.
3. Touch and hold the folder or file. Tap Manage Shared Folder or Manage Shared File.
4. Tap Stop Sharing.

Anyone who has the file open when you stop sharing it gets an alert. After they dismiss it, the item closes, the file disappears from their iCloud Drive, and the link stops working. Share the item again later with access set to “Anyone with the link,” and the original link works again. With “People you choose,” only the people you reinvite to share the item can use the original link again.