The Connections panel allows data to be shared across workspaces and throughout your organization. When sharing a dataset, you can limit the share to a specific user or extend it to an entire user group. Data recipients can then accept updates into their workspace when they are prepared to do so — essentially creating a "gated" experience where each data recipient receives updates on their own timeline.
This lets teams have separate — yet connected — workspaces that share common data. Each data "owner" decides who has access to a dataset, while each data recipient decides when and where that data will be used.
Note: This feature works together with sheet-to-sheet and sheet-to-table connections.
Requirements
Roles
- The Workspace Owner or Data Sharing Manager role is required to create, delete, or modify a share.
Permissions
- You must be a file Owner to create new shares or connections, or publish updates from a particular spreadsheet.
- You must be a file Owner or Editor to receive updates and refresh data that has been shared with you.
Settings
- To share a dataset with a user group, the share workspace setting must be enabled by an org admin or workspace admin in the destination workspace.
Create a new share
A "share" is a type of connection between users and workspaces. To create a share, you'll initiate an outgoing connection from your source workspace; you can then add individual users or entire user groups to the share and publish updates en masse to all of the connected destinations.
Note: You must have the Workspace Owner or Data Sharing Manager role to create or manage a share, and you must have Owner permission to the file you're working with.
- Open the Connections panel on the right side of the screen.
- Select the Outgoing tab at the top.
- From the Outgoing tab, click Add Connection.
- Select the first option: Share with another user or user group.
Note: You can also connect to a sheet or table from this screen.
- Click the Next: Add details button to advance.
- Give your share a name and short description. This will be sent to the data recipient and inform where the data should be used.
- Click the Next: Add users or user groups button to advance.
- Use the Organization users field to find individual users from across your org, or Workspace user groups to add an entire group.
Note: For groups to appear in this list, the share workspace setting must be enabled by an org admin for that particular workspace.
- Click Share to finish.
Add or remove access to an existing share
Once a share is created, you can add or remove users to it without altering the underlying connection.
- Open the Connections panel on the right side of the screen.
- Select the Outgoing tab at the top.
- Locate your shared connection and click Manage sharing.
- Click the Organization users field to add individual users to this share, or the Workspace user groups field to add an entire group.
Note: Data shared with an individual user can be used in any workspace they are a member of. Data shared with a user group, however, can only be used in that workspace.
- To remove users from the share, click Remove access next to their name at the bottom of the window.
Note: Use the tabs to toggle between individual users and user groups.
- Click Done to finish.
Please note that removing access to a share will not affect any existing uses of that data, and all currently shared connections will continue to receive updates. Removing access will simply prevent any future insertions of this data.
If you want to permanently break this connection, you should remove the shared connection entirely.
Remove a shared connection
If a share is no longer needed and you'd like to permanently delete it, you can remove it directly from the Connections panel. This will break the connection for all users and prevent any future updates.
- Open the Connections panel.
- Go to Outgoing connections.
- Find your connection, open the dropdown menu, and choose Remove connection.
After a share is removed, any existing uses of that data will remain in the destination workspace — but it will no longer receive updates from the source workspace. You must create a new share if you'd like to reconnect it later.
Share and publish updates
After updating a shared dataset in the source workspace, you must publish the changes. This sends updated data to each destination workspace, which the recipients can "accept" into their sheets by refreshing the connection.
Note: Owner permissions are required to publish updates, but both editors and owners can receive updates.
To publish updated data, click the Share updates button in one of three locations:
Regardless of where this action is initiated, you'll be asked to provide a short description of the changes before sharing the updates. This short "message" will be shown to the data recipients when they refresh their sheets later on.
Connect to shared data (as a data recipient)
As a data recipient, you can find and insert shared datasets by creating an incoming connection. Shared datasets are tied to their source destination, and after the initial share, can be inserted in multiple places throughout your workspace. Each usage of that shared data can then be independently updated (or "refreshed") on your own schedule.
- Open the Connections panel on the right side of the screen.
- Select the "Incoming" tab at the top, and click Add Connection > Shared dataset.
- Click Insert to add the shared dataset to your current sheet.
Note: Before inserting a dataset, click on it to see additional details including the description, source workspace, and original data provider.
After adding a dataset for the first time, you may need to wait a short while for the sheet to update with the new data.
Refresh shared data
Once shared data has been added to a sheet, you can update it by clicking the Refresh incoming button. This can be initiated in three places.
Note: You can click View message here to see a short description of the change provided by the sharing user.
FAQ
What happened to the old sharing model through the Data toolbar?
This method is being phased out, though any existing connections created through the Data toolbar will be maintained for the time being. We recommend recreating those connections in the Connections panel as soon as possible.
You can learn more about this change by clicking here.
How is removing a share different from removing access to a share?
A "share" is simply a type of connection between two or more workspaces. You can ration access to a shared connection by adding or removing users, but the underlying connection is not affected — unless you remove it entirely.
Removing a share in this manner cannot be undone and should be considered carefully.
Remove a share: This action permanently deletes the shared connection for all users. Any existing insertions of shared data will remain "orphaned" in the destination workspace, and no future updates will be received. Jump to section.
Remove access to a share: This action does not affect the connection itself; it simply prevents users from inserting shared data in new places. Any existing insertions of shared data will remain in the destination workspace, and it will continue to receive future updates. Jump to section.
Where can a data recipient use shared data?
This depends on how the data was initially shared.
- If the dataset was shared with an individual user: This dataset will be available to that user in every workspace across the organization. The allows the data recipient to use the data anywhere they have permission to do so.
- If the dataset was shared with a user group: This dataset will only be available within the destination workspace. If members of the user group wish to use the data in another workspace, it must be shared with them directly.