Google Tip 15

Making a Document Public

Besides sharing Google Documents with specific people, you also have the option of changing the visibility settings of a Document to make it accessible to the public. This is an excellent option for Documents that do not contain sensitive or confidential information and need to be shared with a large group of people, including some who do not have Google accounts.

Why would you want to make a Document public? Well, it could be an easy (and paperless) way to share a classroom newsletter with parents and students, send out an informational flyer, or just post public information on the web (like meeting minutes, policy documents, etc.) The best part is, if you make a change or a correction to the Document, it is immediately available to the public!

Here's how to make a Document public:

Open a Google Document, Spreadsheet or Presentation

Click on the "Share" button in the upper right corner of the Document

Click the "Change" link in the "Who has access" section of the window. This will allow you to change to overall "visibility" of the Document

Select the "Public on the web" option
Select the level of access the Public should have (e.g. Can view, Can comment, or Can edit)
Click "Save"

The level of access or "visibility" of the Document has now changed to "Public on the web"
Right-click the "Link to share" to copy the link to the public Document. You can send this link to people via email, post it on a website/blog, or share it via social media.

Click "Done"
You'll notice that the icon on the "Sharing" button has changed from a padlock (i.e. Private) to a globe (i.e. Public). This is a good visual indicator of the visibility of a particular Document

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