--- title: View Content of Google Drive Files description: "Using [**GAT Unlock**](https://gatlabs.com/products/gat-unlock/) an Admin can request access and **view** the **content** of any Google Drive file in a domain. **Unloc**k is a security feature within GAT+ allowing Admins to perform actions such as: - Access to view and download files - Changing File Ownership -…" url: "https://gatlabs.com/knowledge/tech-tips/view-content-of-google-drive-files/" updated: "2023-08-21" category: "Drive Audit & Management" tags: - GAT Unlock - GAT+ --- # View Content of Google Drive Files Using [**GAT Unlock**](https://gatlabs.com/products/gat-unlock/) an Admin can request access and **view** the **content** of any Google Drive file in a domain. **Unloc**k is a security feature within GAT+ allowing Admins to perform actions such as: - Access to view and download files - Changing File Ownership - Access to view and download Emails - Set up Email delegation - Use of Flow Below are the steps of how the **Admin can view the content of a file.** ### Search for File In GAT+ navigate to **Drive > Files** Click on the “**Apply custom filte**r” button and a pop-up menu will be displayed. ![](https://gatlabs.com/knowledge/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/2021-11-16-15_21_53-GAT-1024x348.png) Apply the filter and search for the **File** you need to **view the content of.** ![](https://gatlabs.com/knowledge/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/2021-11-16-15_24_53-GAT-1024x707.png) Click on**Apply **to see the result ### Action on File The **result** of the search will display files matching the filter applied. ![](https://gatlabs.com/knowledge/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/2021-11-16-15_37_05-GAT-1024x323.png) Click on the checkmark beside the File itself (title) to select the file. Click on the **File Operations**button. A pop-up menu will be displayed, click on the **Create new access request**button ![](https://gatlabs.com/knowledge/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/2021-11-16-15_42_40-GAT-1024x353.png) From the menu select **Create new access request** A pop-up menu will be displayed: - **Request access until** – select for how long you want access to this file - Message  – leave a message to the Security officer - **Send requests** – click to send the request for Approval ![](https://gatlabs.com/knowledge/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/screenshot-uk.generalaudittool.com-2021.11.16-16_06_29.png) ### Security officer approval The Security officer receives an email notification ![](https://gatlabs.com/knowledge/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/screenshot-mail.google.com-2021.11.16-16_12_38.png) The officer can approve or deny the request in **GAT+ >  Security officer > Access permissions ** ![](https://gatlabs.com/knowledge/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/2021-11-16-16_21_25-GAT-1024x499.png) When the request is **approved, ****access **to the **File content **will be** granted.** ### Preapproval enabled If [preapproval](https://gatlabs.com/knowledge/tech-tips/how-to-set-up-preapproval-access-for-unlock/) is enabled **no email will be sent to Security Officer**, the **request will be approved**, the **access to the Files will be granted** The **Admin will have access to view and download all the files by default from all the users selected in the Scope** ![](https://gatlabs.com/knowledge/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/2021-12-07-11_11_14-Window.png) ### Access the File To access the file, navigate to the **GAT+** > **Drive** audit Click on the **File Operations** button and select the **Access Permissions list** ![](https://gatlabs.com/knowledge/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/2021-11-16-16_24_49-Window.png) A pop-up menu with all **Access permissions** requests will be displayed. ![](https://gatlabs.com/knowledge/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/2021-11-16-16_26_42-GAT-1024x394.png) On the **File**, you want to investigate click on the **checkmark under Actions.** ### Result The searched **File will be displayed** again, and on the right side under** Actions** will have two options. - **Download file** - **View file content** ![](https://gatlabs.com/knowledge/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/2021-11-16-16_33_44-GAT-1024x309.png) Click on **Show File content **to view the content of the Google Drive file. ### Carbon copy **A carbon copy of the file will be created where you can view its content. ** It is a copy of the file and its content - there will be no log of the file being accessed by the Admin as it is not the file itself but an audit of it via Unlock feature. ![](https://gatlabs.com/knowledge/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/2021-11-16-16_35_30-Window-1024x294.png) View the content of any Google Drive file with the GAT Unlock feature When the **time requested** to have access to the files has**expired**, the Admin will no longer have access to it. To view the content again, a new request has to be submitted. All those actions are kept in an immutable log called the **Admin log**. ![](https://gatlabs.com/knowledge/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/2021-11-16-16_40_16-Window-1024x465.png) The Admin log contains all the actions that the Admins or Delegated auditors performed using GAT+ tools