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Privacy and security

How to password protect a photo album you share online

Some albums are not for the whole internet. Here is how to password protect a shared photo and video album so only the people you choose can open it.

Daniel Okafor

Engineer at Galrivo··2 min read

A padlock resting on a laptop keyboard

A link is convenient precisely because anyone can open it. That is also the problem. The moment you share an album of family photos, baby pictures, or anything personal, a plain link means whoever ends up with it can look. A password turns a public link into a private one.

Google Drive cannot do this on its own

This surprises people: a normal Google Drive share link has no password option. Access is all or nothing. Either the link is restricted to named accounts, or it is open to anyone who has it. Google Workspace has a "visitor" feature with a one-time PIN by email, but it is built for documents and is far too clunky for sharing a holiday album with friends and family.

A link is forwardable

Even a well-meaning relative can paste your link into a bigger group chat. Without a password, that link now works for everyone in it. A password means a forwarded link is useless without the secret.

How to add a password the easy way

The simplest route is to share your Drive media through a gallery that supports passwords. With Galrivo it is a single toggle:

1

Build the gallery

Pick the photos and videos from your Drive. Nothing is uploaded; the gallery just points at your files.

galrivo.com/dashboard

make a gallery

Pick your media.

Continue with 4
2

Turn on a password

Flip the password switch and type one. Pick something memorable but not obvious.

PasswordPeople enter this once before they can open the gallery.
••••••••
3

Share the link and password separately

Send the link one way (a text) and the password another (a quick call). Copy the link with one tap.

Public link

aanya.galrivo.com/goa-2026
Copy

Now anyone opening the link meets a simple unlock screen first. Get the password right, you are in. Get it wrong, you see nothing. No Google account needed at any point.

A person typing on a laptop in a softly lit room
One toggle turns an open link into a private, password-locked album.

Choosing a password people will actually use

  • Make it easy to say out loud. Family members will be typing it on a phone.
  • Avoid your usual passwords. This one gets shared, so it should be unique to the album.
  • A short memorable phrase beats a random string when you need to pass it around.
  • Send it through a different channel than the link, so one leaked message does not give away both.

Pair it with an end date

A password controls who gets in; an end date controls how long. Use both for anything sensitive. See making a link that expires for how that works.

Key takeaways

  • Plain Drive links have no password, access is all or nothing.
  • A password makes a forwarded link useless without the secret.
  • Galrivo adds a password with one toggle, no account needed for viewers.
  • Send the link and the password through different channels.

Frequently asked questions

Share your media the easy way

Turn the photos and videos in your Google Drive into one clean link, with a password and an end date if you want. Free to start, no app for the people you send it to.

Make my first gallery

Daniel Okafor

Engineer at Galrivo

Daniel builds the parts of Galrivo that keep your media private. He writes about how sharing actually works under the hood, in language that skips the jargon.

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