Shared drives explained
What Google Workspace Shared Drives are, how they differ from My Drive, and why they're the best way to store files that belong to your whole team.
A Shared Drive is a folder in Google Drive that belongs to your organization — not to any single person. Files in a Shared Drive stay put even if the person who created them leaves your team.
Quick summary
Shared Drives are team-owned storage areas in Google Drive. Files in a Shared Drive belong to the organization, not an individual. If someone leaves, their files don't go with them. Shared Drives are available on Business Standard and higher plans.
My Drive vs. Shared Drive
| My Drive | Shared Drive | |
|---|---|---|
| Owned by | The individual user | The organization |
| What happens if the user leaves | Files may be lost unless manually transferred | Files stay right where they are |
| Best for | Personal working documents | Team files, client folders, shared resources |
| Who can manage access | The file owner | Admins and managers of the drive |
We recommend using Shared Drives for any files that more than one person needs, or that your business needs to keep long-term.
Creating a Shared Drive
Admin or Manager role requiredOpen Google Drive at drive.google.com.
In the left sidebar, click Shared drives.
Click + New or the "Create shared drive" button at the top of the page.
Give the drive a name — for example, "Marketing Team" or "Client Projects." Click Create.
Add members. Click the new drive's name, then click Manage members (or right-click the drive and choose Manage members). Add team members by email and choose their role.
Shared Drive roles
| Role | What they can do |
|---|---|
| Manager | Add/remove members, delete the drive, manage all files |
| Content manager | Add, edit, move, and delete files |
| Contributor | Add and edit files, but can't delete |
| Commenter | View and comment only |
| Viewer | View only |
Adding files to a Shared Drive
Files added to a Shared Drive belong to the drive — not to the person who uploaded them. You can:
- Upload files by dragging them into the drive
- Create new Docs, Sheets, or Slides directly inside the drive
- Move files from My Drive to a Shared Drive by right-clicking → Move to
Moving a file to a Shared Drive transfers ownership
When you move a file from My Drive to a Shared Drive, the organization becomes the owner. You can't move it back to your personal Drive. Make sure this is intentional.
Organizing a Shared Drive
You can create folders inside a Shared Drive, just like a regular Drive. Click + New → Folder while inside the Shared Drive.
Good practice: set up a consistent folder structure for your team from the start. Examples:
- Client name → Project → Year
- Department → Category → Date
Who can create Shared Drives?
By default, all users can create Shared Drives. Your Workspace admin can restrict this to admins only in the Admin console under Apps → Google Workspace → Drive and Docs → Sharing settings.
Common questions
Related guides
- Google Drive basics
- Sharing files & folders in Drive
- Transferring files when someone leaves
- Removing a user safely
Need a hand?
Learn more
Sharing files & folders in Drive
How to share Google Drive files and folders — choosing who can view, comment, or edit, and how to share with people outside your organization.
Docs, Sheets & Slides explained
A plain-English introduction to Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides — Google's equivalents to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint — and how to use them in Google Workspace.