Linking Google Drive & Docs

Link a Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, or folder straight into a resource, a message conversation, or a support ticket reply. ClientCove shows it as a card, labeled with the file's real name, that your client can open in Google or preview inline — nothing is downloaded and re-uploaded, and the file stays in Google.

This is the quickest way to bring a Google file into the portal when it already lives in Drive. There is nothing to install or connect first.

Paste a normal Google share link for any of these and ClientCove recognizes it automatically:

  • Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides — preview inline.
  • PDFs, images, and other Drive files — preview inline.
  • A Drive folder — opens in Google (folders are not previewed inline).

Only drive.google.com and docs.google.com links are accepted; anything else is rejected. The card is labeled with the file's real name, read from the link when you add it.

Linking a Google file to a resource

Google files are added and removed on a resource's edit screen, and shown read-only when the resource is being viewed.

  1. Open the resource and switch to edit it.
  2. In the Linked from Google section, paste the Google link and click Add.

The file appears as a card with its name and a type icon. Expand preview shows it inline; Open in Google opens it in a new tab. Use the trash button on a card to remove a link. When someone later views the resource, the cards are there to open and preview, but the add and remove controls are not — those stay on the edit screen.

Linking a Google file in a message

  1. Open a conversation and start a reply.
  2. In the reply toolbar, click the Google button (Link a Google file) and paste the link. It appears as a chip on your reply.
  3. Send the reply.

The file attaches to that reply and shows as a card directly beneath it, joined by a short connector line, so it is clear which message it belongs to. Anyone in the thread can open it in Google or expand the preview, which opens at the full width of the conversation.

Linking a Google file in a ticket reply

Support ticket replies work the same way: click the Google button in the reply editor, paste the link, and send. The file is attached to that reply and shown as a card beneath it.

Previewing and sharing

ClientCove links to the file in Google — it never changes the file's sharing and never signs anyone in to Google.

  • If a client cannot open a linked file, open it in Google and set its sharing so the people who need it can view it (for example, "Anyone with the link," or share it directly to your client's email).
  • The inline preview needs the viewer's browser to allow Google's cookies. If a preview comes up blank, the Open in Google button always works — it opens the file in a new tab.

What it does and does not do

  • The file stays in Google. ClientCove stores a link, not a copy. Removing a link never changes or deletes the file in Drive.
  • Viewing and editing happen in Google. The inline preview is read-only; opening the file in Google is where commenting and editing take place, using Google's own sharing.
  • Access is controlled by Google, not the portal. Whoever can open the file in Google can open it from the card — set the file's sharing accordingly.
  • Adding and removing links is a staff action. Clients can open and preview linked files.

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