Shared Drive

What are shared drives?

Shared drives are special folders in Google Drive that you can use to store, search, and access files with a team. Shared drive files belong to the team instead of an individual. Even if members leave, the files stay in the shared drive so your team can keep sharing information and work anywhere, from any device.

Key features of shared drives

Files and folders persist after someone leaves
Your organization owns the files in a shared drive, not an individual. When someone leaves and an admin deletes their account, files they added or created in shared drives remain.
Flexible sharing
Access to files and folders in shared drives is granted in two ways: 1) adding a user or group as a member of the shared drive, and 2) members sharing files and folders with non-members.
1. Easy, consistent sharing for members. All members of a shared drive see the same content so you don’t have to spend time addressing sharing requests. You can add a group as a member of a shared drive. Then when a user is added to the group, Google Groups automatically adds them to all the shared drives that include that group. Members are assigned access levels, which control what they can do with files and the shared drive.
2. Tailored sharing for non-members. If allowed, members of a shared drive can share individual files and folders with non-members. This option lets you share only what a non-member needs access to, without sharing everything in the shared drive.
External people can work in your shared drives (if allowed by your organization)
If your organization allows, you can add external people to a shared drive as long as they have an email address associated with a Google account. Any content an external person contributes (for example, edits to, creating, or uploading a file) in a shared drive created by someone in your organization is transferred to and owned by your organization.
For people whose Google Workspace edition doesn't include shared drives, you can only add them with Viewer access. However, you might be able to give them comment or edit access to specific files in the shared drive, depending on folder permissions. See How sharing a folder in a shared drive works.
Sync shared drives to your desktop
You can access your shared drives on your computer using Google Drive for desktop.

Compare shared drives with My Drive

Create a shared drive

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
On the left, click Shared drives.
At the top left, click New.
Enter a name for the shared drive.
Click Create.

Add members to a shared drive

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
In the left column, click Shared drives and double-click one of your shared drives.
At the top, click Manage members.
Add names, email addresses, or a Google Group.
- By default, new members will be Content managers. They can upload, edit, move, or delete all files.
To change the role for a new member, select a role from the dropdown.
To choose to notify new members of their access, click Notify people.
Click Send.

Change a member's access to a shared drive

On the left, click a shared drive.
At the top, next to the shared drive name, click the Down arrow Manage members.
Next to a member’s name, click the Down arrow and select a new access level.
Click Done.

See & email members of a shared drive

On the left, click a shared drive.
Under the shared drive name, click the number of members.

Email members of a shared drive

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
At the left, click Shared drives and double-click one of your shared drives.
At the top, next to the name of your shared drive click the Down arrow .
Click Email Members.
Enter your message and click Send.

Remove members of a shared drive

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
At the left, click Shared drives and double-click one of your shared drives.
At the top, next to the name of your shared drive, click the Down arrow .
Click Manage members.
To the right of the person you want to change, click the Down arrow .
Select a role or Remove.
Click Save.

Note: When you remove a member from a shared drive, they also lose access to any files and folders in the shared drive that were directly shared with them.

Delete a shared drive

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
On the left, click Shared drives.
Right-click the shared drive you want to delete.
Click Delete shared drive.

To empty a shared drive before you delete it, put the files in the trash or move them to "My Drive."

Tip: If you aren’t ready to delete a shared drive, but you aren’t actively using it, you can hide it. Hiding a shared drive removes it from your view. See Best practices for shared drives.

Before you can delete a shared drive:

The shared drive has to be empty
You need to be a Manager of the shared drive.

Shared Drive access levels

What members can do at different access levels

Create folders in a shared drive

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
At the left, click Shared drives and double-click one of your shared drives.
At the top left, click New.
Click the type of file or folder you want to create or upload from your computer.

Note: Any subfolders you create must have the same permission as the top-level folder.

Add files to a shared drive

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
At the left, click Shared drives and double-click one of your shared drives.
At the top left, click New.
Click the type of file or folder you want to create or upload from your computer.

Any files you add are owned by the team. If you leave the shared drive, your files remain.

Note: To store and access files on your desktop, use Google Drive for desktop. See Install Drive for desktop.

Search in a shared drive

Right-click a shared drive and click Search within shared drive name.
In the Search box, enter your search term and press Enter.

Delete files in a shared drive

Requires at least Content manager access

After a file has been in the trash for 30 days, it will be deleted forever. Managers of the shared drive can delete files in the trash at any time.

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
Click Shared drives.
Click the file you want to delete.
At the top, click Delete for everyone .
Click Delete for everyone.

To immediately free up storage space, if you have Manager access you can permanently delete the file.

Restore a file to a shared drive (up to 30 days)

Requires at least Contributor access

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
Click Trash.
At the top, next to "Deleted from," click the Down arrow .
Choose the trash you want to restore from.
Click the file you want to restore.
Click Restore .

Permanently delete a file from a shared drive’s trash

Requires Manager access

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
Click Trash.
At the top, next to "Deleted from," click the Down arrow .
Choose the shared drive for the trash you want to permanently delete a file from.
Click the file you want to permanently delete.
Click Delete forever .

Restrict file sharing in a shared drive

Requires Manager access

You can restrict sharing on all files and folders in a shared drive. You can prevent sharing with people outside of your organization, prevent sharing with non-members in your organization, or disallow people with Commenter and Viewer access from downloading, copying, or printing files in a shared drive.

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
At the left, click Shared drives and double click the shared drive you want to change.
At the top, click your shared drive’s name Shared drive settings.
Update the settings you want to change.
Click Done.

Change your shared drive theme

Personalize your shared drive with a photo or color to easily tell which shared drive you're in.

Requires Manager access

Open Google Drive.
Under Shared drives, click a shared drive.
At the top, click the shared drive nameChange theme Pick from Gallery or Create custom theme.
Click the picture of the theme you want, or navigate and click a custom image.
Custom images should be at least 1280 x 144 pixels in size.
Click Select

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