Public Files on Google Drive

[rlopes]

Is there a procedure to find in my Google Drive all files that are public on the internet, with free access, and configure them for private access? If it is not possible to find this function in the Drive itself, is there any external tool?

[phranque]

i would start by searching in Google Drive for "owner:[e-mail]".
you will probably have to be logged in as another user to see only the publicly shared files and directories.

[Sgt_Kickaxe]

If you're not actively using Google drive you should close your google drive account. Your other google services will remain active.

[phranque]

If you're not actively using Google drive ...

the question was specifically about turning off access to publicly shared files.
many people actively use Drive without sharing files...

... you should close your google drive account.

there is no such thing.
there is "your Google account" which gives you access to Google services, including Drive if you wish.
you can delete all Google Drive files or close your account and forsake all Google services.

[tangor]

Per g...

1. Your Content

Google Drive allows you to upload, submit, store, send and receive content. As described in the Google Terms of Service, your content remains yours. We do not claim ownership in any of your content, including any text, data, information, and files that you upload, share, or store in your Drive account. The Google Terms of Service give Google a limited purpose license to operate and improve the Google Drive services — so if you decide to share a document with someone, or want to open it on a different device, we can provide that functionality.

Google Drive also allows you to collaborate on the content of other Google Drive users. The “owner” of the content is the one who controls the content and its use.

Sharing settings in Google Drive allow you to control what others can do with your content in Google Drive. The privacy settings of your files depends on the folder or drive they are in. Files in your individual drive are private, until you decide to share them. You can share your content and can transfer control of your content to other users. Files you create or place in folders or drives shared by others will inherit the sharing settings and may inherit the ownership settings of the folder or drive they are in. We will not share your files and data with others except as described in our Privacy Policy.

We will not use your content for marketing or promotional campaigns.

[google.com...]

Establish public and private folders and go from there.

[Robert Charlton]

The relevant part of the Google Drive Additional Terms of Service which answers the the OP's question, is not in fact in the part that's extensivelly and excessively quoted above..

The section of this article which I hope will be helpful to rlopes is the paragraph just above the extensive quote (which, were it not Google documentation, I'd need to delete because it exceeds Fair Use)..

In the sentence I quote below, I've bolded the anchor text of the links which need to be followed. As phranque noted, you probably will need to be logged in to see that documentation...

Although it’s not a part of these Terms, we encourage you to read our Privacy Policy to better understand how you can update, manage, export, and delete your information.

1. Your Content...etc....

Then, set up the private and public folders as suggested.

[tangor]

is not in fact in the part that's extensivelly and excessively quoted above..

Sorry ... will keep it simple in future. Didn't mean to waste anyone's time.

[phranque]

... will keep it simple in future. Didn't mean to waste anyone's time.

time was wasted on irrelevance, not complexity.

[tangor]

er ... okay, where do we check in for that? Personally thought g docs (which did contain the same information) were the prime source!

Note, the "extensively quoted" has:

The privacy settings of your files depends on the folder or drive they are in.

Let's not take this too far. Both replies above are correct!