How to Easily Share iCloud Drive Folders from iPhone, Mac, and iCloud.com

For centuries, you could only share individual files in iCloud Drive, not folders. It was tedious and unproductive. Although iOS 13 and beta versions of macOS Catalina have implemented iCloud Drive folder sharing, the functionality has surprisingly disappeared from public versions. So how would you share iCloud Drive folders from iPhone, Mac or iCloud.com?

Fortunately, Apple has reintroduced functionality with the iOS 13.4 and macOS Catalina 10.15.4 updates. So if you’re using an iPhone, iPad, or Mac on which the latest system software updates are installed, it’s incredibly easy to share entire iCloud Drive folders with others.

To make things even better, you can also use the iCloud Drive web app on iCloud.com to share folders. So without further ado, let’s check how this feature works on iPhone, iPad, Mac and iCloud.com.

Note: An iCloud account is required to access iCloud Drive shared folders.

Share iCloud Drive folders – iPhone and iPad

Sharing folders stored in iCloud Drive is possible on any iPhone or iPad running iOS / iPadOS 13.4 or higher. If you haven’t updated your device yet, go to Settings> General> Software Update and install the pending updates.

You can then use the Files app to share iCloud Drive folders. The whole process involves defining permissions for the folder, selecting a shareable medium, and then adding the people with whom you want to share it.

Step 1: Open the Files app on your iPhone or iPad. Select iCloud Drive from the list of storage locations and navigate to the folder you want to share. Long press the folder, then select Share.

2nd step: Select the Add people option in the share sheet. On the next screen, tap Sharing options.

Step 3: Use the Who Can Access and Authorization categories to determine who can access the folder (private or public) and the permissions that users have (edit or view only).

Then go back to the previous screen and select a medium to share the folder with – iMessage, Mail, Slack, etc. You can also select Copy link if you want to share the invitation manually – great for public links.

Step 4: Add the contacts with whom you want to share the folder, then send the invitation or copy the link to your clipboard.

You can also change the properties of a shared folder later – long press the shared folder, tap Share, then tap Show people.

On the Contacts screen that appears, you can add or delete contacts, change permissions, or completely stop sharing the folder.

Share iCloud Drive folders – Mac

If you are using a Mac with macOS Catalina 10.15.4 or higher installed, you can easily share folders stored in iCloud Drive with others using the Finder. If you haven’t updated your Mac yet, go to Apple menu> System Preferences> Software Update to do so.

Step 1: Open Finder, select iCloud Drive, then navigate to the folder you want to share. Right-click the folder, point to Share, and then select Add People.

2nd step: Expand Sharing Options, then change the permissions as desired. Finally, select the medium with which you want to share the folder, then click Share.

To change the properties of a shared folder later, right-click it, point to Share, and then click Show People.

Change existing permissions, add or remove people, or stop sharing the folder.

To save your changes, click Done.

Smarter sharing

The folder sharing capabilities of iCloud Drive give you a lot of flexibility. You can let people add files to folders, edit items, or restrict them to just viewing, easily. Native productivity tools like Keynote, Pages and Numbers also work seamlessly with shared folders: just add a document to a shared folder to start collaborating. Great thing, Apple.