You can share a Google Drive file so that the person's access ends on a date you choose. For the exact steps, search Drive Help for the page titled "Set an expiration date for file access." This article summarizes what Google's Workspace Updates announcements say about where the feature works and which plans it was announced for.
Expiring access began with files in My Drive
In a May 2023 post on the Google Workspace Updates blog, Google said it had first announced expiring access for files in My Drive "last year." My Drive is your own storage, as opposed to a shared drive owned by a team.
Shared drives came later, first through the Drive API
The May 2023 post was about files in shared drives. Google said that expirations for those files could be set through the Drive API, which is the programming interface developers and admins use. It did not describe a button in the Drive interface for this.
A later Workspace Updates post is titled "Set sharing expirations on files and folders in shared drives". It was published in November 2025. As the title says, it extends sharing expirations to folders as well as files in shared drives. PCWorld and Revolgy also covered the change.
If you don't see an expiration option, check your plan
The May 2023 post listed availability for these Google Workspace editions:
- Business Standard
- Business Plus
- Enterprise
If you use a work or school account, ask your administrator which edition your organization has. Then compare it with the availability section of the newest Workspace Updates post, because the lists can change between announcements.
If the file is in a shared drive and you're following older instructions, check the date first. Guides written around 2023 may describe the API-only setup that came before the November 2025 change.
