Google Drive access for interns: give them what the project needs, then close it on the last day
Interns join for a few weeks, often on a personal email, and nobody remembers to close their access when they leave. If you run a small company, that gap is easy to miss because no one owns the process. This guide shows how to set up Google Drive access for interns so it ends when the internship does: pick one project folder, choose the right account, limit the role, and check access on the last day.
In this guide
- Why Google Drive access for interns needs its own rules
- Step 1: Decide which project folder the intern truly needs
- Step 2: Choose an email: company account or personal Gmail
- Step 3: Set the role: Viewer, Commenter or Editor
- Step 4: Keep interns away from public links and sensitive shares
- Step 5: Plan the end date and check access on the last day
- Use Wistorix to review what an intern email can open
- An intern access checklist you can reuse
- Frequently asked questions
Why Google Drive access for interns needs its own rules
Interns are different from employees in three ways. They stay for a short stint, they often use a personal email, and there is rarely a handover process when they leave. A permanent hire gets an offboarding conversation. An intern usually just stops showing up.
Interns also create files. Anything an intern makes in Drive is owned by the account that made it. If that account is a personal Gmail, the work product sits outside your company the day the internship ends.
The real exposure is not the intern. It is the company folders that hold client details or pricing, because a share made on day one can stay open for months. Good Google Drive access for interns means a small, named scope and a planned end.
Step 1: Decide which project folder the intern truly needs
Name one folder and one approver
Before you set up any Google Drive access for interns, write down the one project folder the intern will work in and the supervisor who approves it. If you cannot name a single folder, the task is not defined well enough yet. A clear folder also makes the last-day check short.
Keep interns out of the root and sensitive folders
Never share your top-level folder with an intern. Folders with contracts, invoices, payroll or client price lists stay closed. Use this table to match the task to the folder and the role:
| Task type | Folder to share | Starting role |
|---|---|---|
| Reviewing drafts or reports | The project's drafts folder | Commenter |
| Reading reference material | A reference or templates folder | Viewer |
| Producing deliverables | The project's working folder | Editor |
| Anything with client or pricing data | None, unless the supervisor approves | No access |
Step 2: Choose an email: company account or personal Gmail
The account you pick shapes Google Drive access for interns more than any setting. A company account is easier to close. When the internship ends, you remove the account or its access in one place. A personal Gmail belongs to the person, so it keeps working after they leave and keeps every share you gave it until you remove it.
If only a personal Gmail is possible, share specific folders and write the email address in the onboarding note. That note becomes your checklist later. Do not share the whole Drive just because the account is hard to manage.
Check who owns the files the intern creates
Ask the intern to create new work inside the shared project folder, not in their own My Drive. Files made in your folder are easier to find and review. Before the last week, open the folder and look at the owner of the main files, so you know which ones belong to the intern's own account.
Step 3: Set the role: Viewer, Commenter or Editor
Google describes the roles plainly. According to Google's guide to sharing files and folders, a Viewer can view the file or folder and open all files within a shared folder, and a Commenter can make comments and suggestions on files. An Editor can open, edit, delete, or move any files within the folder, as well as add new files.
That last sentence is why Editor needs care. Start with Commenter or Viewer for review tasks. Give Editor only inside the project folder where the intern genuinely produces work, and only after the supervisor agrees.
Check whether an expiration date is available
Google's sharing page also covers access expiration. It says you can select a date within one year, that this is available for work and school accounts, and that for folders it is only available for Viewer roles. If you use a work account and the intern only needs to read, set the expiration to the last day. If not, rely on the last-day check in step 5.
Step 4: Keep interns away from public links and sensitive shares
Share to named email addresses rather than "anyone with the link". Google notes that anyone on the internet who has the link can open the file without signing in to a Google Account. A link pasted into a chat or an email can travel much further than you intended.
Tell interns not to re-share files outside the team without approval. A simple rule works well: if a file needs to go to someone new, the intern asks the supervisor first. This keeps Google Drive access for interns short and known.
Finally, ask the intern to move finished work into the project folder before the internship ends. Files left in a personal My Drive are the ones that get lost or stay owned by the wrong account.
Step 5: Plan the end date and check access on the last day
Put the end date on a calendar
Add the last day to the supervisor's calendar and to the onboarding note on day one. A reminder with a name on it is far more reliable than a plan to remember. Closing Google Drive access for interns is part of finishing the internship, just like returning a laptop.
Transfer ownership, then remove access
First, find company files the intern owns and transfer ownership to a colleague before they leave. Then remove their access. In Google's help page on stopping or changing sharing, the step is to select Remove access and click Save.
Confirm the result in the Share dialog of the project folder. The intern's address should no longer appear in the list. Check a few key files inside the folder too, because a file can carry its own sharing settings.
Check the Trash soon after
If the intern deleted anything on the way out, look in the Trash. Deleted files stay in the Trash for 30 days, so restore anything the team still needs soon after the internship ends.
Use Wistorix to review what an intern email can open
The manual checks above work for one intern and one folder. They get slow when you have several interns, older shares and files spread across many folders. This is where a review tool helps with Google Drive access for interns.
Wistorix is a Chrome extension for Google Drive. It reads file metadata only, such as name, size, owner and sharing settings, and never reads or stores file contents. A scan is free.
Review by email: Wistorix shows which files one address has access to. After you check the list and choose what to change, you can revoke or change access in bulk. Nothing runs on its own.
You can also see the current owner of a file and transfer ownership of one or several files. For the wider picture of what is shared, see the sharing risk scan, and for how it fits a team without an IT person, see Wistorix for small business. Ready to try it? Check file owners with a free scan at wistorix.com.
An intern access checklist you can reuse
Copy this Google Drive access for interns checklist into your onboarding note. Each step has one person who signs it off, so nothing depends on memory.
| When | What to do | Who signs off |
|---|---|---|
| Before day one | Name one project folder, choose the account, set the starting role | Supervisor |
| During the internship | Keep sharing to named emails; move finished work into the project folder | Intern and supervisor |
| Week before the last day | Check who owns the main files | Supervisor |
| Last day | Transfer company-owned files, remove access, confirm in the Share dialog | Supervisor or owner |
| After the internship | Review the Trash and repeat the access check | Owner |
Repeat the review a few weeks after the internship ends, on your own schedule. A monthly or quarterly check also catches shares made by previous interns. For the full picture of closing access when people leave, read Google Drive offboarding, and for a related walkthrough see how to check and remove employee access.
Frequently asked questions
What Google Drive access should an intern have?
Give each intern one project folder, not your whole Drive. Start with Commenter or Viewer, and use Editor only inside the project folder where they produce work.
Can interns use a personal Gmail to access company files?
Yes, if you share specific folders to that address, but a company account is easier to close. A personal Gmail stays with the person, so write the email down and remove it on the last day.
What happens to files an intern created when they leave?
Files stay owned by the account that created them. Before the last day, check the owner of the main files and transfer ownership of company files to a colleague, then remove the intern's access.
Can Wistorix set an end date on an intern's access?
No. Wistorix does not set expiration dates. It shows which files an email has access to, lets you revoke or change access in bulk after you review the list, and shows owners so you can transfer ownership.
sharing publicly?