Shared Drives vs My Drive: Organising Company Files in Google

Shared drive vs My Drive: the key difference

Google's shared drives overview puts it simply: a shared drive supports files owned by an organisation rather than an individual user. A file can sit in a shared drive or in My Drive, but not both, although shortcuts can point from one to the other.

The ownership difference is what matters. Google's file transfer help explains that an admin must transfer a leaver's files to someone else; untransferred files are deleted with the user, and Google says a deleted account can only be restored for 20 days. Files already in a shared drive are not affected by a member leaving.

Which Google Workspace plans include shared drives

Google's shared drives set-up page lists Business Starter, Business Standard and Business Plus among the supported editions, with Business Starter marked "except as noted". The main exception: on Business Starter you cannot set the advanced shared drive controls, such as blocking sharing with people outside the company, restricting downloads for viewers or setting default sharing permissions.

As of October 2026, Google's Singapore flexible-plan prices are S$9.40 per user a month for Business Starter and S$18.80 for Business Standard, before GST. Our Business Starter vs Standard comparison covers the rest of the difference.

Shared drive access levels explained

Every member of a shared drive can see every file in it, so the drive itself is your main permission boundary. Google's user guide to shared drives lists five levels:

Use Google Groups as members rather than individuals, for example a finance group on the Finance drive. When someone joins or leaves the team, you change the group once and every drive follows.

A simple shared drive structure for a small business

Create a small number of drives split by who needs access, not by topic. Too many drives is as confusing as one giant one. A typical 5 to 50-person business needs four to six:

• Company: policies, templates, branding. Everyone is a Viewer; one or two Managers.
• Clients or Projects: a folder per client inside. Delivery staff are Contributors or Content managers.
• Finance: invoices, bank statements, tax. Owners and finance staff only.
• HR: contracts, payroll, appraisals. Owners and HR only. Keep it separate because the drive is the permission boundary.
• Sales and Marketing: proposals, campaigns, assets.
• Archive: finished projects and old records, Viewer access for most.

Inside each drive, keep folder names consistent (year, client name, project) and avoid going more than three or four levels deep. Google allows up to 100 nested levels and 500,000 items per shared drive, but people stop finding things long before that.

How to move files from My Drive to shared drives

Moving files keeps their links and comments; copying does not. Plan the move for a quiet afternoon.

1. 1

   Create the drives and add groups as members

   Set access levels before moving anything, so files land with the right permissions.

2. 2

   Make the folder owner a Manager

   Google's access table shows only Managers can move whole folders from My Drive into a shared drive. Contributors and Content managers can move individual files.

3. 3

   Move folders, don't copy them

   In Drive, right-click the folder, choose Organise or Move, and pick the shared drive. Links already sent to clients keep working if they have access.

4. 4

   Check files owned by other people

   You can only move files you own. Ask each colleague to move theirs, or have an admin transfer ownership first.

5. 5

   Review external sharing

   Shared drive settings may block sharing that worked in My Drive. Check client-shared folders after the move.

6. 6

   Tell staff where things now live

   Add shortcuts in My Drive if people are used to old locations, and update any bookmarked links in your intranet or SOPs.

Our employee offboarding checklist covers the other steps when someone leaves.

Keeping it tidy: sharing and review

Shared drives make ownership safe, but sharing still needs watching. Once a quarter, review each drive's members, remove people who changed roles, and check for files shared with "anyone with the link". The same habits apply on Microsoft 365; our SharePoint and OneDrive sharing links clean-up guide shows the Microsoft side.

If you are still choosing a platform, our Google Drive vs OneDrive vs Dropbox comparison compares how each handles company files.

Do it yourself or get help?

A small team can set up four or five shared drives and move its main folders in an afternoon. Get help if files are spread across many personal accounts, a leaver's account still holds key documents, or you need sharing locked down for client confidentiality.

Our Microsoft 365 / Google Security Lockdown (S$590) sets up shared drives with group-based access, moves company files out of personal accounts, tightens external sharing and applies the rest of the Google Workspace security baseline.