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A guide for Shared Drive managers to understand why external collaborators might be unable to save changes or create new files, and how to resolve this by adjusting their permission role.

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When external collaborators (such as contractors or consultants) are working on files within a Google Shared Drive, they might encounter permission errors preventing them from saving changes or creating new files, even if they initially appear to have access. This is a common issue with specific role limitations in Shared Drives, particularly for desktop applications like CAD software.

Understanding the Challenge with the “Contributor” Role:

Your organisation might typically grant “Contributor” access to external partners. While a Contributor can add new files and edit files they’ve added themselves, this role has limitations:

• A Contributor cannot move files into a Shared Drive from another location (like their “My Drive”).
• They cannot delete files created by other members in the Shared Drive.
• They cannot always overwrite or modify files created by others in a way that applications like CAD software (which often create temporary files during saving) require. The system might interpret these complex saving operations as an attempt to “move” or “overwrite” which is outside the Contributor’s permissions, leading to messages like “You do not have permission to save to this location” or “Destination Folder Access Denied”.

The Solution: Granting “Content Manager” Access

To ensure seamless collaboration where external partners can save changes, create new files, and manage documents effectively within a Shared Drive, they typically need the “Content Manager” role.

A Content Manager:

• Can add new files and folders.
• Can edit any file within the Shared Drive.
• Crucially, can move, delete, and overwrite any files or folders within the Shared Drive, regardless of who created them. This level of control is often necessary for desktop applications to function without permission errors.

Step-by-Step: How to Change a Collaborator’s Role (for the Shared Drive Manager)

If you are a Manager of the Google Shared Drive, follow these steps to adjust an external collaborator’s role:

1. Go to Google Drive in your web browser: Open drive.google.com.
2. Navigate to “Shared drives”: In the left-hand navigation panel, click on Shared drives.
3. Locate the relevant Shared Drive: Find the specific Shared Drive where the collaborator is experiencing issues.
4. Manage Members:
   • Right-click on the name of the Shared Drive itself (or click the three vertical dots next to its name).
   • From the context menu, select Manage members.
5. Change the Collaborator’s Role:
   • In the “Manage members” window that appears, find the email address of the external collaborator (e.g., contractor@example.com).
   • Next to their name, click on the dropdown menu that shows their current role (e.g., “Contributor”).
   • Select Content manager from the options.
6. Save Changes: Click Save or Done.

Post-Permission Change Actions (for the External Collaborator):

Once their role has been updated, please advise the external collaborator to perform these steps to ensure the new permissions take effect:

1. Close the application: Completely close any desktop applications they were using to access the files (e.g., AutoCAD).
2. Quit Google Drive for desktop: Locate the Google Drive icon in their computer’s system tray (Windows) or menu bar (macOS). Click it, go to “Settings” (gear icon), and select “Quit” or “Exit.”
3. Restart their computer: This helps clear any cached permissions or ongoing sync issues.
4. Launch Google Drive for desktop: Start the application again.
5. Retry saving/creating files: Once Google Drive for desktop has fully synced, ask them to try opening and saving files from their local Google Drive folder again.

Important Note on Local Computer Permissions:

Even with the correct “Content Manager” role in Google Drive, very occasionally, local operating system permissions (Windows User Account Control prompts or specific folder security settings) or overzealous antivirus/security software on the collaborator’s own computer can still interfere. If the issue persists, the collaborator may need to click “Continue” on any local Windows prompts or temporarily adjust their local security software settings as a diagnostic step.

By setting the external collaborator’s role to “Content Manager” for relevant Shared Drives, you empower them to work effectively on project files with desktop applications, significantly streamlining your collaborative workflows.