To shorten a Google Drive link, set your file or folder's sharing to the access level you want, copy the share link, and paste it into a URL shortener like squish.to. You get a short link that opens the same file. Shortening only changes how the link looks. Who can open the file is still controlled by your Google Drive sharing settings.

That's the whole trick. The rest of this post covers the sharing setting worth a ten-second check, and how to pick a short link people will actually remember.

Step 1: Choose who can open it, in Drive first

Do this before you shorten anything, because the short link inherits whatever Drive allows.

  1. In Google Drive, right-click the file or folder and choose Share.
  2. Under General access, pick one of two options:
    • Restricted: only the people you add by email can open it. This is the default for new files.
    • Anyone with the link: anyone who has the URL can open it, no sign-in needed.
  3. If you chose "Anyone with the link", pick a role: Viewer, Commenter, or Editor. For handouts, menus, schedules, and photo albums, Viewer is usually what you want.
  4. Click Copy link.

If you're sharing with a few specific people, Restricted is a great choice and the short link still works for them once they're signed in. If you're sharing with a crowd, such as a class, a team, or a guest list, "Anyone with the link" plus Viewer is the friendly option, and a short link is where it really helps.

Step 2: Paste it into squish.to and pick your ending

A raw Drive link looks something like drive.google.com/drive/folders/ followed by a long run of letters and numbers. Nobody wants to type that from a printed flyer.

  1. Go to squish.to and paste your Drive link.
  2. Choose your own ending instead of a random one, such as squish.to/spring-photos or squish.to/team-handbook. Custom endings run 3 to 30 characters, using letters, numbers, and hyphens, and they're case-sensitive, so lowercase is safest.
  3. Share the short link in a text, an email, a slide, or a printed handout.

No account is needed, and each link comes with click stats, so you can see whether people are actually opening your folder. If you want to know how that works and what we do and don't record, we wrote it up in what a URL shortener actually logs.

Does shortening change who can see my file?

No. A short link is a signpost that points to your Drive URL. It doesn't add or remove any permissions. Anyone who could open the original link can open the short one, and anyone who couldn't still can't. For a deeper look at this, see does shortening a link protect a sensitive URL.

A good habit is to treat any "Anyone with the link" file as something you're happy for anyone holding the link to see, and to use Restricted for anything you'd rather keep to a named group. Both work nicely with a short link.

A few tips for smoother sharing

  • Name the slug after the content, not the date. squish.to/menu is easier to say aloud than squish.to/menu-oct-2026. If you want help with that, here's how to build a short link you can say out loud.
  • Folders beat files for ongoing sharing. Share one folder link, then add or swap files inside it. The short link stays the same, so you never have to reprint anything.
  • Test it in a private window. Open your short link in an incognito or private browser window. If it opens without asking you to sign in, anyone with the link can open it. If it asks for a sign-in, the file is Restricted. That one check tells you exactly what your recipients will see.
  • Older files can have a resource key. For some non-Google files uploaded before November 2017, Google added a resource key to the share link in 2021. If an old link stops working for new viewers, copy a fresh link from Drive and shorten that one.

Quick answers

Can I shorten a Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides link the same way? Yes. The steps are identical: set sharing in Google, copy the link, and shorten it.

Will the short link still work if I rename the file? Yes. The link points to the file itself, not its name.

Will it work if I move the file to another folder? In general, yes, since the link points to the file itself, though folder-level sharing permissions can change who has access.

What if I stop sharing the file? The short link will still redirect, but Drive will show the visitor an access screen instead of your file.

Is there a cost? squish.to is free to use, with no account required.

Ready to try it? Paste your Drive link into squish.to, pick an ending you'd be happy to read out loud, and share away.