What the permission means
In Google Drive,
Anyone with the link allows a person holding the link to open the item without signing in to a Google Account. The assigned role still matters: Viewer, Commenter and Editor grant different abilities. A long, unguessable URL reduces casual discovery but is not a list of approved recipients.
A common failure
You send a document link to a small team. Months later it is forwarded to a contractor, pasted into a ticket or included in an email archive. If the file remains link-accessible, anyone with that URL can open it. Changing to Restricted stops future opens through anonymous link access, but it cannot reclaim downloaded copies.
Safer practice
Use named access for sensitive files and grant the least capable role that permits the work. Review the parent folder, because its permissions can also affect what is accessible. Google's
Drive sharing guide defines each role and general-access option. Test a non-sensitive file first if a collaborator's workflow depends on the old link.
