Shared Drives in Google Drive
Shared Drives (formerly Team Drives) are spaces where teams store files together. Unlike My Drive, files in Shared Drives belong to the organisation — not individual users.
**Available on:** Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise, and Education plans.
### Why Use Shared Drives?
- Files remain accessible even after a team member leaves
- Consistent access management via drive membership
- Files cannot be accidentally moved to a personal drive
- Ideal for team project files, company templates, shared resources
### Creating a Shared Drive (Admin or Delegated)
1. Google Drive → Shared drives → + New
2. Enter name (e.g. "Marketing Team", "Finance 2025")
3. The creator becomes Manager by default
### Managing Members
Open Shared Drive → right-click → Manage members
Add users or groups with roles:
| Role | Can Do |
|------|--------|
| Manager | Add/remove members, change settings, delete drive |
| Content manager | Upload, edit, move, delete files |
| Contributor | Upload and edit files |
| Commenter | Comment only |
| Viewer | View only |
**Tip:** Add Google Groups instead of individual users — membership updates automatically.
### Shared Drive Settings
Right-click drive → Drive settings:
- **Allow members outside your organisation** — enable for external collaboration
- **Prevent editors from changing access** — restrict sharing
- **Prevent downloading/printing** — for sensitive data
### Admin Controls
admin.google.com → Apps → Google Workspace → Drive and Docs → Manage shared drives
Admins can: create drives on behalf of users, manage all drives, override sharing restrictions.
### Moving Files to Shared Drive
Drag from My Drive to Shared Drive — ownership transfers to the organisation.
Or: right-click file → Move → choose Shared Drive
### Storage Limits
Shared Drive storage counts against the organisation's pooled storage — not individual users. Monitor at admin.google.com → Reports → Storage.