This article covers how to force others to make copy of Google Docs with original comments. That means the receiver won’t be able to see the document unless he/she makes a copy of the document you’ve shared and the document copy will include all the comments from the original document. A copy of all comments is added in the copy of the shared document.
Normally, you can share any Google Docs document with others in view and edit modes but others won’t be able to see the comments in view mode and edit mode will share the document directly without any copy. This trick helps you let others see the comments of the original document but only when a copy of the original document is created.
In the screenshot above, you can see that a copy is visible of a Google Docs document and the copy of comments is also added.
How to Force Others to Make a Copy of Your Google Docs Document with Original Comments?
Step 1: In the first step, you need to generate the sharing link for your document. It is pretty simple as Google Docs provides this option natively. Just open the document and then use the SHARE button present on the top right part for link generation.
Step 2: Copy the output link and paste it in Notepad or anywhere else where you can edit it. Now, delete ‘edit?usp=sharing‘ and add “copy?copyComments=true” in the URL.
That’s it! The new URL is ready to use. Share it with anyone you want.
The other person will have to log in with his/her Google account and then he/she will be prompted to make a copy of that document. When it is done, the document will open and you can see the copies of all the comments on the right-hand side.
You may also try another trick which helps to share a Google Docs document in preview mode.
The Conclusion:
This trick has two direct benefits. You don’t need to share the original document with others and copies of comments from the original document are also imported as it is in the copy of your Google Docs document. Just a tweak in the Google Docs document URL provides such benefits. Try it.
