Google Drive: Collaborating with Non-Google Users

 People without a Google Account can work on items (even those set to Restricted to those with access), via Google’s “Visitor session” functionality.

Sharing Files and Folders in Google Drive

When you share a file or folder with a non-Google user, they will receive an email with a link to the file or folder. For items that are Restricted to those with access, the user will need to do an email code validation to ensure they are the intended person for the file.

Note on Permissions: Non-Google users can have the same permissions (e.g. View, Comment, Edit) as Google users, except they cannot be a Content Manager on folders.

Sharing Microsoft Office Files 

If you have an item for which edits need to happen in Microsoft Office because its functionality is not supported in the equivalent Google application (e.g., an Excel spreadsheet with advanced features that are not available in Google Sheets), it is still possible to collaborate with a non-Google user.

1. Create a new Shared Google Drive subfolder for sharing the item(s). Share this subfolder with the non-Google user.
2. Instruct the non-Google user to do the following:
   1. Download the file from the subfolder (without opening it in Google Drive). 
   2. Use their Microsoft Office application to open and edit it. 
   3. Re-upload it to the original subfolder and select “replace existing file.” (Previous versions of the file will still be available.)