How to Transfer Google Drive to Another Account

You may need to transfer a Google Drive to another account for various reasons, from graduating to changing your email address after marriage.

Regardless of your reasons, preserving your content, its organization, and formatting is essential during the migration process. This shifts the focus from simply asking, "How do I transfer a Google Drive to another account?" to addressing the more critical question: "How can I transfer Google Drive to another account efficiently and securely?"

Transferring your Google Drive doesn’t have to be a daunting task, but it does require careful planning to ensure nothing is lost or compromised in the process. In this article, we explain what methods for transferring Google Drive files and folders are available and provide instructions for using them.

Can I transfer Google Drive to another account?

Google has yet to offer a native tool for transferring the entirety of your Google Drive to another account. Users of personal accounts can't move the files to another account or change the ownership of their Google Drives.

Luckily, there is a workaround: you can automatically transfer all your Google Drive files to another account using a third-party migration tool or download and upload them manually.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through each method, highlighting their pros and cons so you can find the best fit for your needs.

Transfer Google Drive to another account outside the organization

If you are using Google Workspace (Google's paid package with a custom domain name), you may be able to transfer Google Drive content from one user within the organization to another by changing the ownership of the files.

However, transferring a Google Drive outside of the organization is not possible even if you are the admin of Google Workspace.

As long as your organization allows this, you can transfer all Google Drive files and folders to a user outside the organization by setting up an automated transfer using a paid third-party tool like VaultMe or manually by downloading and re-uploading the content.

Method 1: Transfer Google Drive to another account automatically

The easy way to transfer all Google Drive files and folders to another account is to use an automated tool like VaultMe.

VaultMe is an online migration app that automatically copies Drive documents between the accounts. You can transfer all files from Google Drive to another user without downloading and re-uploading your content while retaining the folder structure of the source account.

Here's why Google Drive users choose VaultMe:

VaultMe does not make any changes in the source or change the ownership of the documents; it only creates copies of the files. You may need to delete the files from the source account manually and reshare the files with other users after the migration.

If you are a small business owner with several employees or a Google Workspace administrator migrating multiple user accounts, consider using VaultMe for Admins for your project. The following article outlines the steps necessary to prepare for the migration and provides instructions for setting up an automated migration: How to Migrate to Google Workspace: VaultMe's Step-by-Step Guide.

If you have any questions about VaultMe, feel free to email us at support@vaultme.com. We'd be happy to help!

Method 2: Transfer a Google Drive to another account manually

Manual option 1: Migrate Google Drive data to another account through download and upload

In this section, we explain how you can download your Drive files to the hard drive and then upload them to your new account manually.

But before you start, consider the following:

• Google Takeout will download only the files you created or uploaded yourself. The files that other people have shared with you will not be exported. If you decide to use Google Takeout, you must download shared files manually from the "Shared with me" section of your Drive. Remember that "Shared with me" documents are not counted towards your Google Drive storage, so you'd need to estimate how much storage space you'd need for them in the new account.

• The download and upload process will run slowly and may take up to several days or sometimes even weeks (depending on the number and the size of your files).

• You must keep the computer powered on during the whole process. Sudden interruptions to the internet connection and/or power supply may cause the files not to copy over.

• When you download multiple files (either manually or using Google Takeout), Google puts them in archives. To recreate the structure of your Google Drive in another account, you will have to unzip the archives and re-organize the files before you upload them.

• If you have a large account (over 10 GB) and decide to use Google Takeout, your archive will be split into several parts. If some of them fail to generate properly, the archive will have to be requested again.

Manual option 2: Migrate Google Drive files to another account using "Backup and Sync"

"Backup and Sync" is Google Drive's desktop app for syncing content between the cloud and the hard drive. Please note that this method involves downloading and installing additional software.

The limitations of this method include the following:

• Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, and other documents created online are represented in your Google Drive desktop app as links and not the actual files. If you drag them to the new Drive, they will still be pointing to your old Google Drive account.

• "Backup and Sync" will not show the files and folders from the "Shared with me" folder. To save these documents, download them from the "Shared with me" section of your old Drive in a browser and then upload them to the new account.

• The desktop apps for cloud drives are not optimized for working with large accounts. If you have a large account (over 10 GB and/or over 10,000 files), the process may take weeks and may fail to complete eventually.

• You'll need to make sure that you have enough storage space on your hard drive for a temporary copy of your old Google Drive account.

• You'll also need to have stable internet access and keep your computer turned on during the copying process.

Frequently asked questions about transferring Google Drive from one account to another

Can I transfer an entire Google Drive to another account?

Yes, but Google does not offer any native tools for doing that, so you'll have to transfer your Google Drive files manually or use a third-party migration tool like VaultMe.

If you are an administrator of a Google Workspace account and want to transfer one user's files to another user's Drive, use the following guide: Transfer Drive to a New Owner as an Admin.

What is the best way to migrate all files to another Google Drive?

The answer depends on many factors. The easy way to transfer all files from one Google Drive to another is to use an automated migration tool like VaultMe that will migrate your files in a browser. However, it is also possible to copy files by manually downloading them from one account and uploading them to another.

Can I transfer Google Drive to another account outside of my organization?

Yes, but only if the organization allows transferring content outside of the organization. If you are not sure if this is permitted, reach out to the owner and/or administrator of your account. If transferring is allowed, select a migration method from the three methods outlined in this article.

Can you transfer Google Drive ownership?

If your Google Drive account is provided by an organization (school, work, or other), the ownership of files and folders in Google Drive can be transferred to another user. If you are an administrator of a Google Workspace account, see this article for admins on how to transfer file ownership. If you are a user, see how to make someone else the owner of your file.

If your Google Drive is not provided by an organization, the only way to transfer ownership of all files is to copy the files to another account. Use one of the methods outlined above to transfer your Google Drive to another account.

Can I transfer ownership of Google Photos?

No. However, you can share your Google Photos with another account, and the person you are sharing the photos with can save the images to their account. If you delete the photos from your account, they will remain in your partner's account. For more information about how Google Photos can be transferred, see this article: How to Transfer Google Photos to Another Account.

How do I copy a Google Drive?

While Google Drive does not offer users the functionality to copy the entirety of their Google Drive to another account, you can copy all your Drive documents using different methods. The only reliable and efficient way to do this is to set up an automated migration using a third-party migration service like VaultMe. Manual methods take much more time and may often provide inaccurate results.

How do I link two Google accounts?

It is not possible to link, merge, or combine two Google accounts. The only workaround is to copy your Google account data to another account and deactivate the unwanted account. Copying can be done manually for each of the services you use or automatically using paid migration software.

Conclusion

You can transfer your Google Drive content to another account in 3 different ways, but only one of these options is fully automated.

Use VaultMe if you want to transfer the entire Google Drive to another account, avoid any manual work, preserve the structure of the copied account, and receive predictable results.

If you have enough free storage space on your computer and a good broadband connection, you may use one of the manual options. But you should be prepared for slow processing and inaccurate results, especially if you have a large Drive account. Remember that copying shared files and folders manually may be a challenge.

Related articles

Want to change your Gmail email address? See this helpful guide: How to Change a Gmail Address.

Considering extracting your files using Google Takeout? Learn all about its limitations and how to avoid them: Don't Get Trapped by Google Takeout.

Need to copy all of your shared documents? Learn how this can be done from this blog post: How to Copy "Shared with me" files from One Google Drive to Another.

Thinking of switching from Google Workspace to a free Gmail account? Use this guide: Migrate Emails from Google Workspace to Gmail.

Planning to migrate your organization's data to Google Workspace? Learn how you can prepare for the transition and what tools you can use: How to Migrate to Google Workspace: VaultMe's Step-by-Step Guide.