SharePoint to Google Drive migration: what transfers in both directions

To move a team library from SharePoint Online to a Google Workspace shared drive, use Google’s SharePoint Online data import. To move a Google Workspace shared drive into SharePoint, use Microsoft Migration Manager. Both are content migration tools. A completed copy does not, by itself, establish that the destination has the right access, working links, version history, or every item the team uses.

The direction matters. Google’s import keeps a SharePoint DOCX file as DOCX; it does not turn it into a Google Doc. In the reverse direction, Migration Manager exports Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides as DOCX, XLSX, and PPTX. Those differences should shape the checks you make before the team starts editing at the destination.

SharePoint Online to a shared drive

Google offers a default import using its shared API quota and an advanced method using your dedicated quota. The current default limit is 1,000 SharePoint Online sites per import; advanced supports 5,000 per batch. For a small team, the important choice is whether the method supports the library’s access exceptions. Default import, advanced import.

For the default path, a Google Workspace super administrator goes to Admin console > Data > Data import & export > Data import, selects SharePoint Online import, and connects as a Microsoft Global Administrator. Upload the site map, map identities, choose settings, and start the import. Keep the project available through the final delta and report review: exiting removes its configuration and reports. Starting another import of the same files risks duplicates. Google default import instructions

Advanced setup adds an Azure application and certificate. Its site map identifies the SharePoint URL, destination drive ID and target user. For a team destination, fill the drive ID deliberately: a blank ID sends content to that user’s My Drive. The target user needs Manager access on the shared drive. Advanced mapping

The separate identity map uses Source Entity and Destination Email. For example, an existing SharePoint project group and its Google replacement need the intended members before a group mapping can serve those readers. A renamed destination group is not evidence that its membership matches. Default identity mapping

Check access beyond the top folder

The default method excludes child files and folders with restricted permissions; those items can be missing from the destination. SharePoint site Owners map to Content Managers in Google, so an imported owner role does not make that person a shared-drive Manager. When multiple source links exist, the importer chooses the most restrictive setting. Google import scope

The advanced method has an option for restricted items. It places the content in Restrictive Permissions Files in the target user’s drive, with shortcuts in its intended location. Enabling external-user permissions sends new sharing invitations. Advanced settings

For the staffing workbook below, inspect both the shortcut and its target. The visible team folder can contain a pointer while the actual workbook lives elsewhere. Record that actual location, confirm the authorized manager can open the workbook, and check that an ordinary member is denied.

Google’s file importer excludes SharePoint lists, webpages and externally owned files or folders. Links embedded inside documents remain unchanged. A successful document copy can therefore still send the reader back to SharePoint. Google scope

Google Workspace to SharePoint

Open Microsoft 365 admin center > Setup > Migration resources, explore the self-service migration tools, and select Google Workspace. A Google administrator authorizes the migration app; the destination needs a SharePoint/OneDrive administrator, Migration Administrator or Global Admin. Standard Migration Manager connects, scans, adds drives to the migration list, reviews destinations, maps identities and migrates. Lite, enabled by default for projects created in tenants below 300 licenses, presents those tasks through a shorter setup. Microsoft workflow

Review the settings before that first run. File permissions are off by default, so destination content inherits permissions unless migration permissions are enabled and checked. Google group membership must be recreated in a Microsoft 365 group and identities mapped. External sharing links are not recreated, and collaborators are not automatically shared on the destination. Version history is supported, but the default migrates only the latest version; choose the advanced version setting if earlier versions are required. Project settings also include file and folder filters and Google Sheets scanning options. (Microsoft Migration Manager FAQ)

A later pass needs care. Microsoft says a change to file permissions alone might not be detected as changed content under the default scan behavior. An overwrite-all setting can transfer such changes, but it also overwrites destination changes. Check the project setting and the item’s destination permissions instead of assuming that an identity map or second pass made them match. Microsoft migration FAQ

Google-native files need separate inspection. Microsoft documents Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides exporting through the Google Export API to DOCX, XLSX, and PPTX, with originals unaffected. Drawings become PNG files; Forms migrate to a designated Forms destination. Sites and Maps are unsupported, shortcuts are skipped, and orphaned items are neither scanned nor reported. An unsupported item can register an item failure while its overall task still says Completed. (Microsoft unsupported-files guide)

Reconcile the items people use

A worksheet can track logical items independently of either platform’s URL. This illustrative reconciliation CSV is a planning manifest, not a migration-tool export or a record of transferred files. For each item, keep a durable key, source object type, current and target URLs, source and destination version counts, access before and after, remedy, and decision. The worksheet already states each documented default and the selected remedy. Measured fields stay blank and observed status is NOT_RUN; fill those only after checking the actual migration.

Illustrative item and direction	Documented default	Action the example requires
procedures.docx, SharePoint to Google	DOCX stays DOCX; embedded references retain their old URLs.	Open the destination document and update references to migrated targets.
staffing.xlsx, SharePoint to Google	Default import excludes the restricted child item.	Use the advanced restrictive-permissions option and inspect the actual file location and access.
training.gdoc, Google to SharePoint	Google Docs becomes DOCX; the default history setting takes the newest version.	Select required history before migration and inspect the converted document.
welcome.pdf, Google to SharePoint	The external link and automatic guest sharing do not transfer.	Recreate the authorized destination invitation and link.
process-pointer, Google to SharePoint	Google Drive shortcuts are skipped.	Create a new pointer after its destination target exists.
issue-register, SharePoint to Google	SharePoint lists are outside the file import.	Export eligible data and rebuild the required application separately.

The six rows represent six logical things to account for, not six files that either tool should report. A scan may count folders and tasks differently, and a file count alone cannot expose Google orphans that were never scanned. Item-specific reports and a direct check of the source inventory are more useful than matching a single total.

For a converted Google Sheet, compare the real XLSX formulas, named ranges, charts and layout with the source. Track any Apps Script-dependent task separately. Opening the workbook is a useful first check; it cannot establish that the weekly report or approval action still runs. For the SharePoint list, separate the exported records from views, permissions and application behavior. A spreadsheet containing the rows does not recreate the original list workflow.

A practical reconciliation can stop the cutover on one important missing item. In this example, the file importer cannot deliver the issue-register application, and the default Google path omits the restricted staffing child. The project should schedule those remedies before announcing that the whole library is ready. The ordinary procedure can move successfully while those two items remain unresolved.

Decide when the team can switch

Keep the source active during the initial copy. When the team is ready to switch, freeze source edits, run the final delta in the existing project where supported, and save item-specific error reports before closing it. Read the destination with the correct user identities: confirm roles, inherited access, restricted-child exceptions, and any guest access that is still required.

Then update the URLs people actually follow. Google explicitly leaves embedded SharePoint URLs unchanged; Microsoft does not recreate external sharing links in the reverse direction. Confirm that new edits go only to the intended destination. Retain the source until the owner has accepted the reconciled items and authorized the retention decision. A Completed task status is not a reason to delete it.

Common questions

Will SharePoint DOCX files become Google Docs?

No. Google documents that imported files retain their existing format. In the other direction, Microsoft documents export of Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides to DOCX, XLSX, and PPTX.

Will version history come across?

For Google Workspace to Microsoft, Migration Manager supports version history but selects only the latest version by default; choose the advanced version setting before the first migration if earlier versions are needed. Check actual version counts in both accounts. The supplied Google guidance does not support a blanket promise about SharePoint-to-Google version preservation.

Should I start another full import for missed changes?

For Google’s SharePoint import, keep the existing project for its final delta and reports. Google warns that starting another import of the same files risks duplicates. In the reverse direction, review Migration Manager’s change and overwrite settings before a later pass, especially if permissions changed or people have edited destination files.

Source note: Google and Microsoft documentation checked October 7, 2026. The six-item reconciliation is illustrative. No administrator migration or account change was performed.