Google Shared Drives

Owned by Alex Sanchez
Last updated: Oct 21, 2024
3 min read

With Google Workspace at PSU, you have two Google Drive options: My Drive and Shared Drives. For information about My Drive, go to Google My Drive.

Table of Contents

About Google Shared Drives

Google Shared Drives allow teams to store, search, and access their files from any device. A shared drive is a space where:

  • Members share ownership of all files and folders.

  • Members can share files with non-members by link or invite.

  • Even if members leave, files remain in place so the team can continue to share information and get work done.

  • Shared drives are allocated 10 GB storage space (or more upon request) but have some limitations on maximum daily uploads, file size, and total items. For more information on shared drive limits, refer to Google's Shared drive limits support article.

For more information, please reference Google’s What You Can Do with Shared Drives support web page.

Create a Google Shared Drive

  1. Open Google Drive at drive.google.com.

  2. On the left, select Shared Drives.

  3. At the top left, select New.

  4. Enter a name for the Shared Drive.

  5. Select Create.

Manage Members and Set Permissions

Owners of shared drives receive Manager-level access, and can add or remove members and set permissions. If all members with full access have left PSU, contact the Helpdesk to reassign Manager-level access to the shared drive. Access can be assigned at the drive, folder, or file level and a user or group’s access is inherited by folders and files lower in the folder structure.

Shared drives offer five levels of access to members:

  • Manager: Can add or remove members, and upload, edit, move, and permanently delete files.

  • Content Manager: Can edit all files and upload new files. Can move files and folders to the trash.

  • Contributor: Can edit all files and upload new files. Can’t move or delete files.

  • Commenter: Can only comment on all files.

  • Viewer: Can only view all files.

For more information, please reference Google’s Create a Shared Drive support web page.

Add and Share Drive Files

To add files to a shared drive, you need at least Contributor-level access. Files you add are automatically shared with other members of the shared drive. You can also share files with people who aren’t members. For more information, please reference Google’s Share Files from Google Drive support web page.

Move Google Shared Drive Files

You can move any file you own into a shared drive. To move files between shared drives or from My Drive into a shared drive, drag the files into the destination shared drive folder.

  • To move files between shared drives, you must have Content Manager-level access to the original shared drive and at least Contributor access to the destination shared drive.

  • If someone else owns the file, you need to ask them to move it.

Use Google Drive for Desktop

Google Drive for Desktop is a desktop application that allows you to quickly access all of your Google Drive files on demand, directly from your computer. Google Drive for Desktop is compatible with Google Shared Drives and is available for download from PSU’s Self-Service Software.

Additional Support Resources

Google maintains its own support resources for shared drives, found at the following locations: