Sharing makes collaboration easy, but there are times when you need the opposite — keeping a document or folder private, stopping it from leaving your organisation, or limiting who can share it further. Lark Docs gives you full control over all of this.
This guide shows you three ways to turn off or restrict sharing for the documents and folders you manage, so the right people have access and no one else.
Applicable scope: These instructions apply to all document types in Lark Docs — including Docs, Sheets, Base, MindNotes, and uploaded files — as well as folders.
Why Control Your Sharing Settings?
For SMEs and startups handling sensitive information — contracts, financial records, client data, internal plans — sharing controls are essential. Turning off or tightening sharing helps you:
- Protect confidential content from being seen by the wrong people.
- Prevent data leaving your organisation through external links.
- Stay in control by deciding exactly who can share content further.
How to Stop All Sharing as the Owner
If you turn off all sharing permissions of your own documents or folders, anyone with a link must request access to view the document or folder.
- Click Share in the upper-right corner of the document, or the right pane of a folder.
- In the sharing panel, do the following to stop sharing:
- To remove collaborators, click the collaborator list, click their permission to the right of their name, and select Remove.
- To turn off link sharing, change its scope to Restricted.
Tip: Setting link sharing to Restricted means only existing collaborators can access the content. Anyone else with the link will need to request access — giving you a clear record of who wants in.
How to Disallow External Sharing
You can prevent documents and folders that you manage from being shared outside the organisation.
- Click Share in the upper-right corner of the document, or the right pane of a folder.
- In the sharing panel, click Permission settings.
- Under External sharing, deselect Allow the content to be shared externally (for documents) or Allow external access to this folder (for folders).
Note: If link sharing was set to Anyone with the link, the link sharing range will be automatically adjusted after you deselect the above options.
How to Only Allow Managers to Add External Collaborators
You can set it so that only users with manage permission can add external collaborators to the document or folder that you manage.
- Click Share in the upper-right corner of the document, or the right pane of a folder.
- In the sharing panel, click Permission settings.
- Under External sharing, do either of the following:
- For documents, select both Allow the content to be shared externally and Only collaborators with manage permission can share the content externally.
- For folders, select both Allow external access to this folder and Only collaborators with manage permission can share the content externally.
Tip: This option is the middle ground between fully open and fully closed. It lets external collaboration happen when needed, but keeps the decision in the hands of trusted team members.
Which Method Should You Use?
- Stop all sharing when content is highly confidential and should only be seen by current collaborators.
- Disallow external sharing when content can be shared internally but must never leave your organisation.
- Only allow managers to share externally when you still need external collaboration, but want to control who can authorise it.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How do I turn off sharing for a document in Lark Docs?
Click Share in the upper-right corner, remove any collaborators you do not want, and change the link sharing scope to Restricted. Anyone with the link will then need to request access.
Does this work for folders as well as documents?
Yes. These settings apply to all document types in Lark Docs — including Docs, Sheets, Base, MindNotes, and uploaded files — as well as folders.
How do I stop a document from being shared outside my organisation?
Open the sharing panel, click Permission settings, and under External sharing, deselect Allow the content to be shared externally (for documents) or Allow external access to this folder (for folders).
Can I let some people share externally but not others?
Yes. Under External sharing, enable external sharing and also select Only collaborators with manage permission can share the content externally. This limits external sharing to trusted managers.
What happens to existing links when I turn off external sharing?
If link sharing was set to Anyone with the link, the link sharing range is automatically adjusted once you disallow external sharing, tightening access accordingly.
Keep Your Content Secure in Lark
Knowing how to turn off and fine-tune sharing is just as important as knowing how to share.
With these three methods, you can keep confidential documents private, prevent data from leaving your organisation, and decide exactly who has the power to share content further — giving your team confident, secure collaboration.
Ready to Power Your Business with Lark?
Lark Docs is just one part of an all-in-one platform that brings messaging, meetings, documents, approvals, and automations together for your entire team.
As the Platinum Partner for Lark in Malaysia, Exabytes offers tailored Lark plans, hands-on onboarding, and dedicated local support to help your team collaborate securely and efficiently.
