Staff Left? Transferring Google Workspace Drive and Email First

What happens to a Google Workspace user's data when you delete them

Google's help page on deleting a user is blunt: any data that is not transferred is deleted. Some of it, such as Drive files and the primary calendar, is kept for 20 days, but you can only reach it by restoring the user.

Step by step: offboarding a Google Workspace user without losing data

Do this in order on the person's last day, or as soon as you know they have left.

1. 1

   Suspend the account and reset sign-in

   Suspend the user in Directory > Users. Google recommends suspending the current owner before a bulk Drive transfer so nothing is created or moved during it. Also reset sign-in cookies and remove app passwords.

2. 2

   Check for files in Trash and loose files

   Items in Trash are not transferred. In Drive, search is:unorganized owner:their address to find files that lost their parent folder, and move what you need into their My Drive.

3. 3

   Transfer Drive ownership to a colleague

   Admin console > Apps > Google Workspace > Drive and Docs > Transfer ownership. The new owner gets a transfer folder in their My Drive. Large transfers that run over 36 hours stop and must be restarted.

4. 4

   Transfer calendars they own

   Group and secondary calendars are deleted with their owner and cannot be transferred afterwards. Move ownership of shared calendars, such as a team leave calendar or meeting room calendar, first.

5. 5

   Keep their Gmail

   Either migrate their mailbox into another account with Google's data migration service, or redirect incoming mail to a colleague. See the email section below for which to choose.

6. 6

   Delete or archive the account

   Super admins can also transfer Drive files and primary calendar data in the delete dialog. If you need the account kept intact, archive it instead.

7. 7

   Route the old address

   After deletion, add the old address as an alias on a colleague or a Google Group so customer emails keep arriving. Google lets you reassign the address within the 20-day window.

Source: Google's transfer Drive files as an admin and delete a user help pages.

Keeping their Gmail: migrate, redirect or archive

Drive transfer does not include email. Google lists two options any admin can use before deleting, and archiving is a third.

For a small business, migrating the mailbox into a shared colleague or manager account and then adding the old address as an alias on a Google Group is usually the cheapest path that keeps everything. If several people need to see incoming mail, a Google Group as a collaborative inbox works better than one person's alias.

Archived User licences: when deleting is the wrong choice

Google's page on archiving former employee accounts explains the option. An archived user cannot sign in or receive new email, but their Gmail, Drive and other data stay as they were. Archived data counts towards your pooled storage, and the person's normal licence is freed for reassignment within 24 hours.

• Business Starter, Standard and Plus: you may be able to buy an Archived User subscription in the Admin console. Choose Delete user, then Archive user, and the option to buy appears if it is available to you.
• Flexible plan without an Archived User subscription: Google lets you archive a user during the delete process and assign a delegate who handles access requests to files and future email.
• Enterprise editions: buy an Archived User subscription in the Admin console.

Google does not list Archived User prices on its public Workspace pricing page, so check the price shown in your own Admin console before choosing. Archiving suits cases where you may need the full account later, such as a dispute or a departing director. For a routine leaver, transfer and delete is usually enough.

Vault, holds and how long to keep a leaver's data

Google Vault lets you retain, hold, search and export Gmail, Drive, Chat and Meet data. According to Google's Vault overview, it is included in Business Plus and Enterprise editions, not in Business Starter or Standard. Two points matter for leavers:

• Vault only covers licensed users. Google warns that if you delete a user or remove the required licence, their data may be purged and no longer available to Vault. A hold does not save a deleted account.
• Vault does nothing until you set rules. Without retention rules, users can delete data and services purge it normally.
• You cannot transfer Drive files from a user on litigation hold. Release or plan around the hold first.
• Vault exports expire after 15 days. Download them and store them somewhere controlled.

How long to keep a former employee's mailbox is a business decision. Keep it as long as you have a real need, such as open customer matters or record-keeping duties, and no longer. Old mailboxes full of personal data are a PDPA risk if they are later breached. A separate Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace backup is the safety net if a transfer goes wrong, and our guide to recovering deleted emails covers what Google can still restore.

Do it yourself or get help?

For one leaver on a small team, an admin can do all of this in under an hour. The steps that go wrong are the ones done out of order.

The full people-side list, including devices and shared logins, is in our employee offboarding IT checklist. If you would like your Workspace set up so leavers are simple, with shared drives, groups for shared addresses and admin roles tidied, our Microsoft 365 / Google Security Lockdown is S$590. For a backup that keeps leavers' mail and files beyond Google's 20 days, see Backup & Ransomware Recovery (S$290).