Google My Drive vs shared drives: move the files without breaking access

Use a shared drive for files the team needs to keep after their creator leaves. Keep files in My Drive when individual ownership is intentional, and resolve externally owned files with their owners. Moving a whole project folder can change its audience, so check ownership and access separately before the move.

Files in a shared drive belong to the organization and remain when a member leaves or their account is deleted. Shared drives depend on the organization’s Workspace edition, licenses and administrator settings. Google’s shared drive guide, Google’s administrator setup guide

Five files, five different handoffs

Suppose a four-person agency’s project lead leaves Friday. The project folder contains a schedule, a fee worksheet, a client brief, artwork and an old working archive. The following is a hypothetical handoff; no Workspace tenant migration was tested.

Item	Who needs it afterward	Proposed arrangement
Current schedule	Four staff and a client editor	Team shared drive, after checking outside sharing
Fee worksheet	Two finance colleagues	Restricted finance destination with an appropriate Manager audience
Client-owned brief	Client and successor lead	Client keeps ownership and grants the successor access
Artwork folder	Design team and assigned freelancer	Project artwork folder with the required outside grant
Old working archive	Readers of selected reusable files	Decide which items belong with the team

The schedule is the straightforward ownership case. The lead created it, but the team needs to continue using it. A shared drive removes dependence on that person’s continued ownership. The client editor’s access still needs a separate check.

The fee worksheet has a narrower audience. Putting it beside the schedule could expose it to people who need project dates but should not see fees. Choose its destination according to the actual finance audience, including the people who manage that destination.

The client brief cannot follow the same route: Google says externally owned files and folders cannot be moved into your organization’s shared drive, even if the external owner joins it. Ask the client to share the original with the successor. A shortcut does not transfer ownership, and a copied brief creates a second working document whose future edits need coordination. Google’s move guidance

Before copying, agree which document the client expects everyone to update. Otherwise, the successor can spend a week improving an internal copy while the client continues editing the original.

A visible folder can still have a missing collaborator

The artwork folder belongs to the lead, but the freelancer was given access through its old parent folder. Moving that child folder does not copy permissions inherited from the former parent. The team must plan the destination grant separately. Google’s move guidance

For this example, the handoff needs to identify the old access path as “inherited from project parent.” Recording only “freelancer has access” would hide the dependency that the move removes.

After the move, ask the freelancer to open the artwork folder under their own account and perform the intended task. An employee successfully opening it does not answer whether the outside collaborator can continue working.

The schedule has another possible problem. Its client grant is direct, but the destination drive may prohibit external sharing. Drive restrictions can override an individual file’s existing sharing. Confirm that the chosen drive permits the intended client access before moving the schedule. Google’s administrator setup guide

Direct sharing and inherited sharing therefore need different checks. The former can conflict with destination rules; the latter can disappear when its parent relationship changes. Treat “the file opens for me” as an internal check, then have each required outside reader confirm their own access.

Limited access cannot exclude a shared drive Manager

Shared drive members normally see its content. Limited-access folders let the team narrow access within that broader membership. Google’s shared drive guide

Google’s limited-access setting can narrow a folder’s audience, but shared drive Managers retain access. If a project Manager must be excluded from the fee worksheet, a restricted subfolder in that same drive will not meet the requirement. Use an approved finance destination whose Managers are entitled to the information. Google’s limited-access guide

For a folder on the web, the documented route is Share > Share > Settings > Limit access, followed by adjusting the people with access. Shared drive Managers control the setting; Content Managers can manage the people when the drive’s configuration permits it. Check both People with access and General access. A group grant or general-access setting can still let a person in after their individual access is removed. Google’s limited-access guide

For the agency’s worksheet, the approval question is concrete: are both finance colleagues allowed, are the destination Managers allowed, and does anyone else have an access route? A person can belong to several groups, so checking a single removed name is insufficient.

Do not promise that an inaccessible folder’s name will always be invisible. Google documents different behavior for web and desktop, and some automatically restricted items behave differently from manually restricted folders. Folder visibility and permission to open its contents are separate questions. Google’s limited-access guide

Move the eligible items while the lead is still available

By default, users can move files they own. An editor can move another person’s file only when the administrator permits editor moves. Moving a folder into a shared drive requires Manager access. Google’s move guidance

For this agency, Monday’s useful work is identifying the owner and current access path of the five items. On Tuesday, try harmless samples matching their permission patterns. Wednesday can then be reserved for eligible moves, leaving Thursday for the successor, client and freelancer to check the real destinations before the agreed Friday departure.

That example timetable gives the lead time to answer ownership questions. It is not a requirement to migrate every file by Friday. The client brief remains an owner action; the fee worksheet remains on hold until its audience is approved. A looming departure does not make either item suitable for a bulk move.

The populated handoff example CSV contains each item’s owner, access path, intended readers, destination, move decision and unresolved action. Replace the fictional roles with your own file locations and responsible people before using it.

For the schedule, completion means the successor can work from the team destination and the client can still edit. For the client brief, completion means the client has invited the successor to the live original. The worksheet requires an approved restricted audience; the artwork requires the freelancer’s restored access. Each row has a different outcome, even when the files started in one folder.

Diagnose a blocked move from its actual cause

If Shared drives is absent, ask the administrator to check the relevant edition, license and membership. If the folder move is blocked, check Manager access, ownership and the organization’s move rules. Google can offer a Download item list CSV for unmovable items, including errors such as INSUFFICIENT_PERMISSION, DIFFERENT_CUSTOMER and EDITOR_MOVE_IN_DISABLED. Google’s administrator setup guide, Google’s move guidance

If the client loses access, check the email account they used, the old direct or inherited grant, and the destination’s external-sharing rule. If an allegedly excluded colleague still opens the fee folder, check group access, General access and Manager status.

Shared drive ownership addresses a creator’s departure. Retention periods and recovery requirements need their own administrative settings; moving a file is not proof that those requirements are met. Google’s administrator setup guide

For the agency’s remaining client-owned brief, contact the client owner now. The successor needs the invitation to the original and a successful open under their own account before the handoff can be considered complete.