Transfering your Google Drive to another account can come in handy when you’re running out of the free 15GB space or want to merge multiple accounts. It’s also useful for organizations as employees often leave & admins might need to transfer all their files to another account.
No matter the cause, you can easily migrate or transfer your G-Drive items to another account by following the easy yet effective methods listed in this article.
So without further delay, let’s dive in.
How to Migrate Google Drive to Another Account
The best way to transfer your Google Drive to another account is by giving access to the files and folders or by permanently transferring the ownership. To do so, right-click on the files/folder and select Share from the context menu. Then add a secondary account and set the permission to Editor.
From there, you can set the secondary account as the new owner by clicking on the drop-down menu next to the said account and selecting Transfer ownership. Keep in mind the ownership won’t be transferred until the secondary account accepts the invitation.
You can also migrate your Google Drive files to another account by copying/moving them to a shared folder. For organizations, you need admin access before you can begin to transfer files or share files/folders with an account outside of the organization.
Below, I have thoroughly discussed all the prerequisites and steps to migrate/transfer Google Drive as quickly and effortlessly as possible.
The quickest way to transfer/merge G-Drive accounts is by sharing the Drive’s contents with another secondary account. And to share the contents, you need to give the Editor access to the secondary account.
Otherwise, the other account won’t be able to access any of the files/folders.
Here are the steps to share G-Drive’s files/folders with another account:
- Go to your primary Google Drive account using the app or web browser.
- Locate the file/folder you want to share with another account and right-click on it.
- Select Share.
- Type the secondary account’s address in the Add people and groups box.
- Select the correct Gmail account from the search result.
- Click on the drop-down menu next to the Gmail account and select any of the access permission(Viewer, Commenter, or Editor).
- Tick the Notify people box and hit Send.
Now, open the secondary account’s Google Drive and click on Shared with me from the left pane. There, you’ll be able to see all the shared files and folders from the primary account.
This method is more of a one-off transfer from one account to another as any future file/folder addition to the primary account won’t be shared with the secondary account unless you manually give access to them.
2. Transfer Ownership of Files/Folders to Another Account
Transferring the ownership of the files and folders of your Google Drive to another account is also an effective migration method.
Follow these steps to transfer ownership of your Google Drive to another account:
- Go to your primary Google Drive account and right-click on the files/folders of which you want to transfer ownership.
- Select Share.
- Type the secondary account’s Gmail address to which you want to transfer ownership.
- Hit Send.
- Right-click on the files/folders again and select Share.
- Click on the drop-down menu next to the secondary account from the People with access section.
- Choose Transfer ownership > Send Invitation.
- Go to the secondary account’s mailbox.
- Open the Invitation to own mail and select Accept.
Furthermore, you can also cancel the ownership invitation from the same option location in case you change your mind. Select the drop-down menu next to the secondary account and click on Cancel ownership transfer > Cancel transfer.
If you want to make future file/folder transfers and don’t want to manually give access each time, you should create a transfer folder that will be permanently shared with another account.
So whenever you add any new files/folders in the shared folder, it will be automatically accessible for the other account.
Here’s how to create a shared folder in Google Drive:
- Open your Google Drive and click on New > New folder.
- Type the name of the folder and select Create.
- Right-click on the newly created folder and select Share.
- Input the Gmail address of the secondary account with whom you want to share the folder.
- Select your preferred permission(Viewer, Commenter, or Editor) from the drop-down menu beside the secondary account.
- Tick the box for Notify people and click on Send.
- Right-click on the files and folders you want to copy/move and select Make a copy.
- Select all the copied files/folders and right-click on any of them.
- Click on Move to.
- From the pop-up window, hover over the shared folder and click on Move.
Another way to migrate the whole G-drive account is by downloading all the contents from the primary account and then re-upload them to another/secondary account. But that can take a long time, depending on the amount of content you have.
So, in the end, it’s always better to just give file/folder access or transfer the ownership entirely instead of manually transferring each item.
Since OneDrive and G-Drive both are cloud storage, you might want to enable and use OneDrive on your Windows PC if the migration process seems too hard and you want to quickly save some files on the cloud.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I transfer an entire Google Drive to another account?
Yes. You can transfer an entire Google Drive to another account by transferring the ownership of the said drive.
How do I transfer Google Drive from one Gmail account to another?
Right-click on the G-Drive folder and select Share. Then type the secondary Gmail address where you want to transfer the drive to. Choose the share permission(Viewer, Editor, or Owner) and hit Done.
How do I copy an entire Google Drive?
To copy an entire G-Drive, select all the items in your Google Drive. Then from the top bar, select Make a copy.
Final Thoughts
Apart from the methods mentioned above, you can use Google Takeout to archive and transfer the whole G-Drive to another account. But that’s a bit more complicated than usual. Let me know in the comments section if you want me to make a separate tutorial about it.
Anyway, that’s all for today. Hopefully, this write-up has enabled you to transfer your Google Drive from one account to another or an outside organization.
Have a good one!
