Transfer file ownership from Gmail to Google Workspace using Shared Drives

Shared Drives are spaces where departments or working groups can manage files belonging to their team. However, for Personal Google account users, Google restricts your capability to transfer or move your Personal Google files into a Workspace folder in Google Drive.

This is where Folgo's Move to Shared Drive feature will come in handy. This feature is a great way for teams (internal & external) to move or transfer files in Google Drive.

How does file access work in Shared Drives?

Shared drives are ways for teams (internal & external) to move or transfer files in Google Drive, collaborate, and reference the same files in Google Drive. But it can be confusing trying to tell who can access a file or folder in a Shared drive, what permissions they have for that item, and what to do if you want to change access.

To learn more about this, please visit Google's comprehensive tutorials. Learn more.

Note: For this setup to work, a Workspace admin or user must create a Shared Drive - with you added as an external member designated (at least) with a Contributor role or access level. That is, you won't be able to add files/folders if you are given a Commenter or Viewer role. Learn more.

A) Steps for the Workspace Admin

Tip: For transfers between two personal Gmail accounts, we recommend using Folgo’s Copy feature instead.

Important note before starting

If a file or folder owner has restricted sharing or copying, Folgo may not be able to copy, duplicate, or transfer that content, even if you have read access. The process report will show which files were processed successfully and which ones were not. To resolve this, ask the owner to update the sharing settings, then try again. Learn more in this article.

1. Create a shared drive

Open Google Drive.
On the left, click Shared drives.

Shared drives are available only if your organization supports them. For help, contact your administrator.
At the top, click the New button.
Enter a name and click Create.

2. Add members and set access levels

You can add people (internally within your organization and/or externally) with a Google account as members of a shared drive.

By default, new members are given Content manager access, but you can change a member's access level. Learn more.

Open Google Drive.
At the left, click Shared drives and click a Shared drive you are a member of.
At the top, click Manage members.
Add names, email addresses, or a Google Group.

New members must have a Google account. By default, new members are Content managers. They can upload, edit, move, or delete all files.

To change:

▸ Permissions for a new member, click the Down arrow and choose an option.

▸ Whether new members get notified, click Notify people.
Click Send.

B) Steps for the External Folders/Files Owner (with a Personal Gmail account)

1. Initialize the Move to Shared Drive feature

Now that the admin added you as a member to their Shared Drive:

Open Folgo in Google Drive > click Transfer / Request Folder ownership > Move to Shared Drive.

2. Select the folder to be shared

The Folgo interface will update. You’ll see the message: “Select a folder.”

The pointing finger means you need to select the folder directly in Google Drive, not in the Folgo sidebar. Browse your Drive, find the folder you want to move to the Shared Drive, and click it.

Once selected, the Folgo interface will update and display your chosen folder.

3. Choose the Shared Drive

To choose a Shared Drive, click on the pen icon. And select the destination Shared Drive directly in Google Drive, not in the Folgo sidebar.

Browse your Drive, choose the relevant Shared Drive, and click it. Once selected, the Folgo interface will update and display your chosen destination. Then click Save.

4. Handle restricted files

In some cases, certain files cannot be moved directly because of Google Drive permission restrictions. Folgo gives you flexible ways to keep the migration moving! Choose how these restricted files should be handled:

Request move from owner: Ask the file owners to move the restricted files themselves.
Create shortcuts: Create shortcuts in the Shared Drive that point to the original files.
Copy files: Create copies of the restricted files in the Shared Drive.

By default, Folgo pauses the process before the final move and sends you the list of file owners. This lets you review the affected files before continuing. You can choose to disable it though.

5. Activate the Move to Shared Drive process

When you're all set, click “Move to Shared Drive” to start the process.

Once the move has started, you can safely close Folgo, Google Drive, your browser, or even your computer. Folgo will continue processing in the background using Google servers. You will receive an email notification once the process is finished.

6. Review the results

Now that the transfer process is initialized, the Folgo UI will display:

A. Your chosen folder to be shared.
B. A process report that contains all your files/folders and their metadata.

Only open this when the transfer is complete. And do not edit while the transfer is on going.

C. The job progress with a listing of the files and folders.
D. The options to either Refresh, Pause, or Abort the operation.

Click "Refresh" if you want to check the current status of the transfer process. If you decide to do so, this may take a while and the duration will depend on the number of folders/files that are being transferred.

Once the transfer request is finished, the Folgo UI will:

Prompt you that the transfer request is completed (with timestamp).
Display the total number of folder(s) and files.
You can open theTransfer folder and Process report.

To see this prompt in the Folgo UI, click the Refresh button when the entire process is done.

After the move is complete, the files moved by the personal Google account user are now owned by the Google Workspace domain.

The Move to Shared Drive process moves or copies the selected files and subfolders, but it does not recreate the root folder itself. Only the content inside the selected folder is transferred.

If needed, create a dedicated subfolder before starting the move. Then select that subfolder when Folgo asks you to “Select a folder,” as shown in Step 2 above.