Working together in Google Docs: a practical guide

A parents’ committee is drawing up a plan for a school celebration, a small team is preparing its monthly report, and neighbourhood activists are collecting a list of volunteers. All too often it goes like this: someone drops a Word file into a Telegram group, everyone edits their own copy, and soon there are files called “final”, “final_2” and “really_final”, and nobody knows which one is right. Google Docs solves this: there is one document, it lives online, and everyone works on that same copy at the same time. In this guide we walk step by step through creating a document, sharing it safely and choosing the right access, comments and @mentions, suggesting mode, version history, working offline and on your phone, team conventions and common mistakes. At the end you will find a practice exercise and a checklist. Menu names follow the English interface.

Getting started: your Google account, Drive and a first document

To use Google Docs you need a Google account. If you have an Android phone or a Gmail address, you already have one: sign in with the same email and password. If not, you can create one for free at accounts.google.com. Do not forget to protect it: a long, unique password and 2-Step Verification are a must. We cover this in detail in our article on staying safe online.

Google Drive is the cloud storage where your files live. Every document you create in Docs, Sheets or Slides lands in Drive automatically. You open Drive at drive.google.com or in the mobile app. The menu on the left holds the most useful sections:

• My Drive: files you created or uploaded yourself;
• Shared with me: files other people have shared with you;
• Recent: files you opened recently;
• Trash: deleted files; you can restore them from there, but they are not kept forever.

Creating a new document

1. In Drive, click the New button in the top-left corner.
2. Choose Google Docs → Blank document. A quicker route: type docs.new into the browser’s address bar.
3. Click “Untitled document” in the top-left corner and give the document a clear name.
4. Start writing. There is no Save button: every change is saved automatically, and “Saved to Drive” at the top confirms it.

You can also work with an existing Word file: upload it to Drive, open it and choose File → Save as Google Docs. That switches on all the collaboration features. It works the other way too: File → Download saves the document as .docx or PDF.

In a long document, mark headings with Format → Paragraph styles as “Heading 1” and “Heading 2”. The outline on the left then builds itself, and even in a ten-page report you can jump to any section in one click.

Sharing and access rights

Sharing is the heart of collaboration. Open the document and click the Share button in the top-right corner. The window that opens has two parts: adding specific people at the top, and General access, which controls sharing by link, at the bottom.

Adding specific people

1. In the “Add people, groups, and calendar events” field, type your colleague’s Gmail address.
2. Choose their role on the right.
3. If Notify people is ticked, they get an email; add a short note: “Malika, could you fill in section 3, please?”
4. Click Send.

There are three main roles, and choosing the right one is among the most important skills:

• Viewer: can only read. Good for sending a finished document, such as an approved plan, to parents.
• Commenter: can read, leave comments and suggest changes, but cannot change the text directly. Handy for a manager or adviser who is reviewing the document.
• Editor: can change everything and can usually add other people too. Give this role only to people who are actually working on the document.

The rule is simple: give everyone the smallest role that is enough for their task. If the parents of a whole class get editor rights, it is all too easy for someone to delete a table or mangle the text by accident.

The document owner is the person who created it. The gear icon (Settings) in the sharing window lets you add extra restrictions: editors cannot add other people, and viewers cannot download, print or copy the file. If you are leaving the team, transfer ownership to another member: in the sharing window, open the list next to their role, choose Transfer ownership, and they will need to accept the invitation.

Sharing by link: convenience and risk

The General access section has two main options:

• Restricted: only the people you added can open the document. Even if a stranger gets the link, they only see a “request access” screen.
• Anyone with the link: anyone who has the link can open the document, even without signing in. You choose a role here as well: Viewer, Commenter or Editor.

Link sharing is convenient: post one link in the group and everyone can open it. But links slip out of your control fast. Someone forwards it to another chat, and from there it travels further. And “Anyone with the link + Editor” is the riskiest combination of all: a complete stranger could delete the whole document or fill it with spam links.

A few rules for safe sharing:

• Never share a document containing personal details (phone numbers, addresses, dates of birth, passport details, children’s full names) as “Anyone with the link”. Personal data should be open only to people you have added by name.
• Do not put copies of passports or bank cards in a shared document at all.
• If you do need link sharing, Viewer or Commenter is usually enough.
• When the work is done, reopen the sharing window and set General access back to Restricted.
• Every so often, review the list in the Share window and remove people who no longer need access.

Example: Dilfuza opa chairs the parents’ committee of class 5B. She drafted the plan for the New Year party in Google Docs and posted the link in the class chat. At first the plan only listed tasks, but later someone added the parents’ phone numbers to it. Meanwhile, the link from the chat had spread to other classes. The right approach: share the plan by link with Commenter rights, and keep the phone numbers in a separate, Restricted document open only to committee members.

Editing at the same time, comments and @mentions

When several people open a document at once, their profile pictures appear in the top-right corner and each person’s coloured cursor is visible in the text. You write one section, your colleague writes another, and nobody overwrites anyone else’s work. But if two people edit the same paragraph at the same moment, things can get confusing. So agree on who writes which section in advance.

Comments

A comment lets you share a thought without changing the text. Select the passage you want and:

1. click the comment icon that appears on the right, or choose Insert → Comment (Ctrl + Alt + M on Windows);
2. type your note: “Where does this figure come from? Please add the source”;
3. click the Comment button.

People can reply to a comment, so the whole discussion stays in one place. Once the issue is sorted, click the tick (Resolve): the comment closes but stays in the comment history.

@mentions and assigning tasks

If you type @ in a comment and pick a person’s name or email, they get a notification. You can also tick Assign to to turn the comment into a task for that person. It stays on their list until they do it and resolve the comment. For example: “@Jasur, please update the table in the finance section by Thursday.” That works far better than asking around on Telegram who is doing what.

Suggesting mode and version history

Suggesting mode

Sometimes you should propose a change rather than make it directly. For example, when you are editing a letter to the school principal, the author needs to see each correction and make the call. To do this, choose Suggesting from the pencil-icon menu in the top right. There are three modes:

• Editing: normal editing;
• Suggesting: text you delete appears struck through, text you add appears in another colour, and a suggestion card shows up on the right;
• Viewing: read-only, so you cannot change anything by accident.

The author clicks the tick (Accept) or the X (Reject) on each suggestion. If there are many, Tools → Review suggested edits lets you accept or reject them all at once. Someone with Commenter rights works in exactly this mode: they can make suggestions, but the decision stays with the author.

Version history

Google Docs remembers every change. Open File → Version history → See version history: a list of versions by date and time appears on the right, and each one shows in colour who changed what.

• After an important milestone, name the version via File → Version history → Name current version: “Version sent to the manager” or “Before the meeting”.
• If someone deleted a large chunk by mistake, select an earlier version and click Restore this version. It is restored as a new version, so the current state is not lost either.

Working offline and on your phone

The internet can drop out: in a village, on the road or during a power cut. If you set up Google Docs in advance, you can keep working without a connection.

Offline mode on a computer

1. Use Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge and sign in to your account.
2. Install the Google Docs Offline extension.
3. In Drive, click the gear icon → Settings and tick the box in the Offline section.
4. In the document you need, choose File → Make available offline.

When you are back online, your changes sync automatically. Only turn this on for your own computer: on a shared computer in a library or internet cafe, your documents could stay open to others.

On your phone

Install the Google Docs, Google Sheets and Google Drive apps from the official app store. Open a document in the app and tap the pencil icon to start editing. To share it, choose Share & export → Share from the three-dot menu. You can read and reply to comments and review suggestions on your phone too. For a document you will need offline, switch on Make available offline in the same three-dot menu. A phone is handy for quick jobs, while formatting a long report is easier on a computer.

Sheets and Slides: the same principles

Everything above (sharing, roles, comments, @mentions, version history and offline mode) works the same way in Google Sheets (spreadsheets) and Google Slides (presentations). We covered spreadsheet basics in our article on Excel and Google Sheets basics. Here are just the extras that matter for collaboration:

• Protecting ranges (Sheets). Use Data → Protect sheets and ranges so that only certain people can change formula columns or the header row.
• Filter views (Sheets). A regular filter changes how the sheet looks for everyone. Data → Filter views creates a filter that only you see, so it does not get in anyone else’s way.
• Dividing up slides (Slides). In a team presentation, each person prepares their own slides; you can leave a comment beside a slide: “@Malika, please swap the picture on this slide.”

Example: Nodira is organising a book collection drive in her mahalla. She created a “Volunteers” spreadsheet in Google Sheets with the columns Name, Phone, Free day, Task and Status. Only three organisers have Editor access, because the sheet contains phone numbers. So that volunteers can sign themselves up, Nodira made a separate Google Forms questionnaire: responses flow into the spreadsheet automatically, and volunteers never see each other’s numbers. To make sure only she can change the “Status” column, she protected that range.

Team conventions and common mistakes

Technology is only half the job. The other half is a few simple agreements within the team. Without them, even the most convenient tool turns into chaos.

Naming and folder structure

• One naming rule. For example “Date – Topic – Status”: “2026-10 – Quarterly report – draft”. If you write the date as year-month, files line up in order by themselves.
• A shared folder. Create one main folder for the team and share the whole folder; every new file inside automatically gets the same access. Inside, use folders such as “01 Plans”, “02 Reports” and “03 Archive”.
• One document, one source of truth. Nobody creates “final_2” copies. Versions get names in the version history instead.
• Who is responsible. Each document should have one owner who keeps an eye on its structure, accepts suggestions and controls sharing.
• A comment rule. Questions are asked in comments and answered there too; resolved comments get closed.

Example: a small project team of Sardor, Malika and Jasur prepares a report for their grant funder every month. Sardor owns the document: he created the report template and divided up the sections, with Malika writing the activity description and Jasur the figures. Each of them works on their own section in Editing mode and touches anyone else’s section only in Suggesting mode. When it is ready, Sardor names the version “Submitted version”, downloads a PDF and sends it. You can learn to organise processes like this systematically in our Project management programme.

Common mistakes

• Posting an “Anyone with the link + Editor” link in an open group. You lose control of the document.
• Keeping personal data in a shared document. Phone numbers, addresses and ID numbers should be open only to a small circle of people.
• Downloading the file, editing it in Word and sending it back. You end up with a dozen copies again, and collaboration loses its point.
• Making big changes without comment. Silently rewriting someone else’s section is a recipe for conflict; use Suggesting mode.
• Keeping important documents in a personal account. When a staff member leaves, the files leave with them. Transfer ownership in good time.
• Not signing out on a shared computer. After working on someone else’s computer, always sign out of your account (Sign out).

Practice exercise and checklist

Do this exercise together with a friend or colleague. It takes about an hour.

1. In Drive, create a folder called “Practice – Parents’ committee”.
2. Inside it, create a document called “2026-10 – Celebration plan”. Write three sections in the “Heading 1” style: Date and venue, Tasks, People responsible.
3. Share the document with your friend as Commenter and send a short note using Notify people.
4. Ask your friend to make two changes in Suggesting mode and to mention you with @ in one comment.
5. Accept one suggestion, reject the other, reply to the comment and click Resolve.
6. Name the current version “Agreed version”. Then deliberately delete one paragraph and restore it through Version history.
7. In the same folder, create a “Volunteers” spreadsheet in Google Sheets and protect the header row.
8. Install the Google Docs app on your phone, open the document and reply to one comment.
9. Finally, open the Share window and check that General access is set to Restricted.

Checklist

• Your Google account has a long password and 2-Step Verification turned on.
• Every document has a clear name and sits in the team’s shared folder.
• Everyone has the smallest role that is enough for their task.
• Documents with personal data are not shared as “Anyone with the link”.
• Questions go in comments and tasks are assigned with @mentions; resolved comments are closed.
• People who are not the author edit other sections in Suggesting mode.
• Versions are named after important milestones.
• The documents you need are available offline, and the apps are installed on your phone.
• Finished documents no longer have extra people or open links.

The ability to work together is needed almost everywhere today, from a school committee to an international project. If you would like to learn office software and cloud tools systematically with a teacher, take a look at our association’s free training programmes, including the Computer literacy course. When you are ready, submit an application and our specialists will get in touch.