How to Change the Ownership of a Google Sheet

Are you changing jobs and wondering what to do with all your data in Google Sheets? Don’t worry. There’s a way to change ownership in this popular spreadsheet program.

When you create a Google Sheet, you’re, by default, the owner. However, you can just as easily let someone else enjoy this permission. In this article, we’ll show you how it’s done.

Changing the Ownership in Google Sheets

When you create a Google Sheet, you have the permission to not only view the spreadsheet, but also add changes, comments, or even delete it altogether. In a situation when you want to change ownership, here’s what you need to do:

1. Open the sheet you want.
2. Next, locate “File” in the top left corner of the sheet.
   
3. Under the “File” button, you’ll see “Share”. Click on it.
   
4. “Share with people and groups” will open. You’ll see the list of people who have access to the Google Sheet.
   
5. Locate the person you want to be the owner of the sheet.
6. On the right, next to their name, you’ll be able to select different options. Click on “Make owner”.
   
7. A pop-up box will show up to confirm the changes made. Finally, select “Yes” to confirm and then click “Done”.
   

You’ll receive a message informing you that you’ve transferred ownership. Once you finish all the steps, you won’t be able to get the ownership back, unless the new owner grants you permission. You’ll still be able to view and edit the contents of the sheet, though.

Note: You have to be extra careful when making someone the owner of the sheet, as they can remove your access to it.

Important Things Before Changing the Ownership

There are some things you won’t be able to do once you change ownership, so make sure you read the following information carefully before doing anything.

First of all, you won’t be able to share the Google Sheet with other people. Only the new owner will be able to do it. Secondly, the visibility option won’t be available to you. Therefore, you can’t see who’s got access to that particular sheet. Finally, you won’t be able to give editing or commenting permissions to collaborators.

For these reasons, we’ve gathered other Google Sheet functions that might be worth checking out.

Other Google Sheet Permissions

If you decide not to make other collaborators the owner of the sheet, you can give them other Google Sheet permissions such as editing and commenting.

Editing Permission

With the editing permission, other users of the Google Sheet can edit the cell content and modify it to their needs. This is always recorded in the revision history. Whenever someone wants to check the previous edits, they’ll be able to do so. Here’s how you can give editing permission:

1. Open the sheet.
2. Next, locate “File” in the upper left corner of the sheet.
   
3. Click “Share” under it.
   
4. When the window appears, add the email of the user you want to grant editing permission.
   
5. Now next to user’s name, you can find different permissions.
6. Click “Editor”.
   
7. Next, click “Send”.
   

Excellent! You’ve now granted the editing permission to the other user.

Commenting Permission

People who can view the Google Sheet you’ve shared with them don’t have the automatic privilege to comment on it. Often, however, you’d like to give users the commenting permission. Thankfully, it’s an easy enough process. To grant a user this function, just do the following:

1. Open the sheet and under “File” tap “Share”.
   
2. Add the emails of people you’d like to grant the commenting permission.
   
3. Once you add these, you’ll see a dropdown menu on the right, next to their names.
   
4. Select “Commenter”.
   
5. Lastly, click on “Send”.
   

That’s it! Now users have the “Commenter” privilege and are allowed to comment on the data in the sheet, without changing it.

Modifying Permissions

Modifying permissions in Google Sheets is useful when you want to give users different privileges. You can do so by following these simple steps:

1. Locate the “Share with people and groups” dialogue.
2. Find the person whose permissions you want to change.
   
3. Next to their name, you’ll see the dropdown menu. Click on it.
4. Now choose a new option.
   

This way, you can decide when someone has the permission to comment, edit, or just view the Sheet.

Find What Works Best for You

When you’re leaving a job, you’ll definitely want to transfer ownership of Google Sheets to someone else. They can then have full access and enjoy all the associated benefits.

Other times, you might reconsider this option and decide to give a user editing or commenting privileges, yet still be the owner of the sheet yourself. If so, feel free to refer back to this article for guidance.

Do you use any of the functions outlined above? Which one do you use the most and why? Let us know in the comments section below.