Google Docs adds live sharing to folders

Google Docs has long let users share documents between one another, but folders–a feature Google begrudgingly added to Docs back in mid-2007, have largely been left out of the picture.

That changed on Monday, as users are now able to share entire folders of documents, spreadsheets, and presentations with other people.

The benefit here is that the permissions settings for a shared folder controls the individual file permissions of all the documents inside of it, meaning that you don’t have to go through and change each document’s viewing permissions one at a time. It’s also an easy way to start working on a document, then share it with a select group of individuals without having to remember to invite them in the first place.

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Users can now share entire folders with groups of other users.

(Credit:
CNET

Google says this was one of the most requested features from its users, as voted on at its product ideas voting page. Google has also used this feedback for guidance in upgrading its Docs file uploader to accept multiple files at once.

Just as users are able to do in Gmail, the Docs uploader now lets users pick multiple files from their hard drive, then see how far along each upload is. The new process makes it much easier for new users to move entire folders into Google’s cloud, which could be handy if–or, rather, when–Google decides to open up Docs to more file types.