How do I share my manuscript with beta readers without giving them edit access?

In Google Docs

Press Share, add each reader's address, and change the role beside it from Editor to Viewer or Commenter. A Viewer can only read. A Commenter can leave comments and can also make suggestions, which show as proposed edits you accept or reject; nothing they type changes your text until you do.

Two more settings matter. Under General access, keep the file Restricted so only the people you added can open it; switching to Anyone with the link means a forwarded link works for whoever receives it. Then click the Settings gear in the Share dialog. Under People who can download, copy, and print, leave Viewers and Commenters unchecked.

Be clear about what that last setting does. Google's own help says you cannot stop how others share the file's content in other ways. The setting does not stop a screenshot, a phone camera, or somebody retyping a page, and a determined reader can usually find another way to pull text out of a browser. Treat it as a request, not a lock.

In Word, or as a PDF

Word's desktop app can limit what anyone does to the file itself. On Windows, open Review › Protect › Restrict Editing, tick the editing restriction, and choose Comments (readers can annotate but not edit) or Tracked changes (every edit is recorded). Then choose Yes, Start Enforcing Protection and, if you want one, set a password. Word for Mac offers comparable protection under Review › Protect › Protect Document. Shared from OneDrive instead, a link can be set to Can view. For a Word document in a work or school OneDrive there is also Can review, which lets people comment and suggest but not edit.

Plenty of writers skip the live document entirely and send a PDF. Nobody can edit it by accident, it reads well on a tablet or e-reader, and readers comment with whatever PDF app they have. PDF permission passwords that forbid copying exist, but not every reader's app honors them. Some writers put the reader's name in the header of each copy, which discourages passing it on more reliably than any setting.

In Tabularia

Sharing for review offers two roles, and neither lets a guest change your manuscript.

• Reader publishes a private page of the draft and emails its link. It is read-only, and the reader needs no account. Turn on Shared Access Only and the page opens only for someone signed in and named on the share, so a forwarded link fails.
• Editor needs a free account. That collaborator can comment and propose wording, but nothing they write reaches your draft until you accept it, one change at a time or all at once.

An Editor share can also carry Restrict extraction. Small Copy caps copying at three consecutive paragraphs inside the review workspace, and the Export switch removes the export controls there. The panel itself says neither setting stops screenshots or transcription, and those switches apply to the Editor's workspace, not to a Reader's page. Every share carries an expiry date and can be revoked, as Managing access explains. An Editor loses access the moment you revoke; a Reader's page closes behind a revoked reader only when Shared Access Only is on.

Sharing needs a Cloud subscription on your side; the people you invite need no paid plan.