By default, only users with either a Google Account or a Microsoft account on your AODocs domain can access AODocs through your domain.
There are several ways of accessing AODocs as an external user. Learn more: What are external users?
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Access AODocs as an external Microsoft user
If your organization has an active AODocs Content Services subscription, you can access AODocs as an external user with a Microsoft account. Usually the Microsoft tenant is allowlisted and all users on the tenant have access to the AODocs platform.
Learn more:
Note: This is the most common setup for Microsoft users accessing AODocs.
You can use all types of library:
- Team Folders
- Secured Folders
- Document Management libraries using any storage platform
You don't have access to Google Drive directly. However, you can work in Google Drive libraries using:
- a preview for Google Drive files that doesn’t require a Google Account
- the ability to download Google Drive files in the corresponding Microsoft format
- the ability to upload files in Drive (as new AODocs attached files or to replace existing ones)
Note: You can't edit Google files.
Access AODocs with an email account linked to a Google Account
A super administrator can allowlist you on the AODocs domain if you have one of the following:
- a corporate account from another domain
- a non-corporate Gmail account
- a non-Gmail account, such as a hotmail account, linked to a Google Account – learn more from the Google Help Center: How do I create a new Google Account?
A library administrator must give you access to one or more AODocs libraries.
You can access the AODocs interface and Google Drive. You can use all types of library:
- Team Folders
- Secured Folders
- Document Management libraries using using any storage platform
Note: Your organization doesn't need an AODocs Content Services subscription to allowlist external users with a Google Account.
Access libraries in AODocs
You can either:
- sign in to AODocs and open the required library
- follow the link to a library from a notification sent by your collaborator – learn more: Share your library with external users
In our example:
- the AODocs library administrator is Bob: bob@demokb.aodocs.com
- you are an external user with the email address external.user.aodocs.1@gmail.com, who doesn’t have an AODocs account and wants to access Bob's library with your Gmail account.
If you received a notification by email, first sign in to your Google Account then follow the link in the email notification.
When you agree to the AODocs permissions, your collaborator’s library opens in AODocs.
You can now access AODocs using your Google Account (in our example, external.user.aodocs.1@gmail.com) in your collaborator’s domain (in our example, demokb.aodocs.com).
Accessing your collaborator’s AODocs library
Note: If you can't access the library, contact your collaborator to make sure they added you to the library access permissions. Learn more: Share your library with external users.
Browse and collaborate in your collaborator's library
As an external user in your collaborator's library, you can:
- browse the library
- view, create and upload documents, depending on the library security settings set by your collaborator – learn more: Add files and folders as an external user
Note: Any documents you add are visible to all members of the library.
Document created by an external user in an AODocs library.
Learn more about how to use AODocs: AODocs user interface.
Limitations
When you access AODocs libraries using Google Drive storage as an external Google user, there are some differences in the way you can use Google Drive.
Add files as an external user
Google Drive doesn't let you transfer ownership of files between different Google domains (learn more: Make someone else the owner of your file), so a certain number of limitations apply for external users adding content to AODocs:
- When an external user adds files to a library via the AODocs user interface, AODocs makes a copy of the files instead of changing the ownership. As a result, the original file remains in the external user's My Drive and the copy is added to the AODocs library, owned by the AODocs storage account. Copying Google documents, spreadsheets and presentations resets the document revision history, so the file added to AODocs doesn't have the revision history of the original file.
- When an external user uploads a file from their local disk, the uploaded file is added to the external user's My Drive. AODocs can't transfer ownership of the uploaded file (see previous bullet point), so the uploaded file is copied to AODocs and the original file stays in the user's My Drive folder.
- Creating new Google files (Google documents, spreadsheets, presentations) in the AODocs user interface is slower for external users than for regular users because AODocs needs to do more permission manipulations.
Note: Currently, when importing external files to an AODocs library, the files are added to the library but don't keep the original permissions of the file.
Use AODocs from Google Drive as an external user
External Google users can use AODocs from Google Drive but some limitations exist.
Learn more: AODocs Smartbar multi-domain usage.
Access AODocs with any type of email account not linked to a Google Account
You can access AODocs as an external user using any type of email account that is not linked to a Google Account, for example, Yahoo. Learn more: Sign in to AODocs.
Note: This sign in option is available only if it has been activated on your domain.
A super administrator must allowlist you on the AODocs domain and a library administrator must give you access to one or more AODocs libraries.
You can then sign in and access the AODocs interface.
The user experience is exactly the same as that of external Microsoft users.