Update allows you to block spammers and total people on Google Drive

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Photo: David Ramos (Getty Images)

As with all things, the Internet has high scores, such as cute cats, their weaknesses, or spammers, trolls, and people who share offensive content. Many of us avoid these individuals, although it is easier to do so on some platforms than on others. Here’s some good news: If you’re having trouble with these types of people, Google Drive will now allow you to block them.

In a new update to Google Workspace published this week, the company acknowledged that while Google Drive aims to allow people to store, share, and collaborate from anywhere, the product’s sharing capabilities can be abused by bad actors. It is precisely for this reason that Google decided to create a way for individuals to block other users, even if they had previously given those users access to their content.

“Blocking a user will not only preserve the benefit of Drive sharing, but more importantly keep Drive users safe,” Google wrote in a blog post.

Additionally, Google said that blocking a user on Drive will also prevent them from interacting with you on other apps and services.

The new blocking feature will allow users to prevent others from sharing any content with them in the future, which Google says can be useful if another user has “a history of spamming or offensive content.” It will also allow individuals to remove all files and folders in their Drive that have been shared by the offending user, thus allowing them to get rid of spam and offensive content in one go. Finally, as mentioned above, the feature will allow users to revoke someone else’s access to their content.

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To block someone, open Drive and right-click on a file, which opens the options menu. In that menu, click on Block (User) and then Block in the window. If you ever change your mind, you can also unblock someone.

As 9to5Google noted, spam on Google Drive has been a problem for years. This is because individuals can share files with anyone on the platform – file sharing does not require the other person’s permission – as long as they have an email address. Although there is a Remove button in Drive, this does not delete shared files, but simply hides them from view, which means they can still appear in search results and other areas.

It may not seem like a big deal at first glance, but it can be very uncomfortable or even dangerous. One user complained in recent years that he can still access a shared folder owned by his abusive ex-boyfriend, and stated that he feels “out of control, being unable to remove myself from this content – from this person” Yes, definitely not a good feeling .

Google said it is gradually rolling out the blocking feature, which will be available to all Google Workplace customers, G Suite Basic customers, business customers, and users with personal Google accounts, on Thursday. It originally announced the feature in May.

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