Migrated off of workspace and can't access google docs shared by others

[abling]

We recently moved our original google based email/workspace to a microsoft 365 platform.  The only issue I have is if an outside user tries to share a document from their google drive with me, I am unable to access it, as I no longer have a workspace account.

Is there a simple solution here that I'm missing?

[DraztheNerd]

Hello abling,

The Google Drive files would need to be shared as "Public View". Note when a Google Drive file is set as public view, anyone with the link may access the file. Sharing a file as public view isn't a good method for sharing files which may contain confidential information. The other choice is to get a free basic Google Account so Google Drive users may share Google Files with you.  

Best,

Draz

[abling]

Thanks, Draz.  Is there a way that I can get a free basic google account using my company domain email?  That's of course the default account people will try to send documents to.  For the same reasons you mentioned (confidentiality), I'd like to avoid using a personal gmail account for this.

A

[icrew]

Yes--you can sign up for a free Google account using any email address you can receive email on. See the "Use an existing email address" section of https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/27441?hl=en, which I think would work perfectly for your use case.

(Conceptually, this is no different that using your non-Gmail email address to sign up for an account with a bank or a social media company, or some other online account.)

Hope that helps,

Ian

[DraztheNerd]

Your initial question sounded like you cancelled the Google Business account and switched to using the Microsoft 365 platform is this correct?

Due to this I don't think there is an easy way to accomplish what you are trying to do. 

You might want to reach out to the Microsoft Support to see if "Delegate Access" can be permitted for an email account outside of both the domain and Microsoft product. If this is possible to do then you might consider investing in a Google Workspace Business Starter account to maintain confidentiality.

[abling]

Thanks, all.  You're right, @Draz, since my prior workspace account was under my company email, I can't sign up for a free account ("that email is already in use by another subscriber"  even though that subscription was cancelled).

I'll continue to consider other options.  Appreciate the guidance.

A

[DraztheNerd]

You are welcome! Best of luck and if you find a work-around please share.

[bvanhaute]

Any progress on this issue?

[DraztheNerd]

Hi Bevanhaute there is a lot of reasons why the files may not be viewable. It's possible the workspace organizational account sharing the files do not allow sharing outside of the domain. In a case like this if they are sharing with another workspace organizational account it's possible for the two accounts to add each other as a trusted domain. If a domain allows sharing outside of the domain without using the trusted domain list then anyone viewing the public link will need to sign in with a Google account

[DraztheNerd]

The only way I can see around this is to ask the user to download the Google doc as a PDF. Followed by attaching PDF file in an email from the devices desktop.