Troubleshooting Common Sharing Issues

Sharing documents should be simple, but access issues can occur if link settings or workspace permissions are not properly set. Here are the most common sharing problems and how to resolve them quickly:

Issue	Possible Cause	What This Means	How to Fix It
The document won’t open for others	The document is set to Private access	Private access disables the sharing link. Only the document owner can open the document.	Change the document access from Private to Public.
Someone can view the document, but can’t edit it	The user is not added to the workspace, or is added as a Viewer	Public links are view-only. Editing is limited to Admins and Editors within your workspace.	Add the user to your workspace and assign them Admin or Editor access.
A client can’t open the shared link	The document is not set to Public access	External users cannot open private or workspace-only documents.	Switch the document to Public access and test the link before sending it to the client.
Changes aren’t visible to viewers	The document wasn’t saved after editing	Shared links always display the most recent saved version.	Save all changes, refresh the document, and ask viewers to reload the link.
Someone edited a document by mistake	The user has Editor or Admin access	Users with edit permissions can modify the document.	Review workspace roles and change the user’s role to Viewer if editing isn’t required.
The wrong version was shared	The document was shared before it was finalized	Viewers may see incomplete or outdated information.	Update the document directly (the link remains the same), notify viewers, and review before sharing next time.

Best Practices to Avoid Sharing Issues

Keep documents Private while editing.
Use Public access only for finalized documents before sending a shareable link.
Assign workspace roles carefully and limit editing permissions.
Test shareable links before sending them out.