Protect or lock google Doc

We use google documents for therapy notes which contain highly sensitive information. Once the google document is editied it is improtant that the information is not changed. 

This is what I would like to be done: 

I want to protect or lock a google document once it is edited. The goal would be to edit the google document once and then have it locked automatically. 

Please let me know if this is possible or if you have suggetions that would help. 

 

Thank you , 

Tamela Ponder 

 

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I am not aware of a feature that does not however once the Google Doc is done being edited, change everyone who has access to "view only" so they can't change it and the only person who is able to actually edit the document is the owner of the document. 

You could have two folders:

One containing files open to editing. Access to this folder would have anyone who should have it.

Second folder "locked". Everyone who should have access would have only view/comment access. 

Then you could only move file from one folder to the other. This action would resolve all the changes in editing privileges for every file instead of setting them individualy.

You can do this via the API, but there's no function in the Google Drive API to enable/disable it. https://developers.google.com/drive/api/v3/file-locking

But why not just change everyone's access to View?

I actually want to know how we can lock (as in no password but just for a protection within the editors) the google doc but people with edit permission be allowed to unlock the file without a password and edit it.

Change editors you don't want to edit to comment or view.

See https://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2023/09/lock-files-more-easily-in-google-drive.html, which is I believe what you were asking for.

Cheers,

Ian

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