How to Transfer Google Drive to Another Account

If you spend a part of your life creating, editing, or sharing files, you are likely among the one billion people who use Google Drive. Google offers its users this heaven-sent feature for free to create, edit, share, and store files. As if that is not enough, Google generously gives each account 15 GB of free storage. Unfortunately, this storage space is shared by Gmail, Google Photos, and Google Drive. 

If you are almost using up your storage space, you can transfer files from your Google Drive to another account. Besides, you may have documents you want to move from a shared account to a personal account. Whatever your reasons for transferring your Google Drive, it is possible to move the data. 

Here are the methods and steps you use to transfer your Google Drive data to another account. In these steps, we shall use ‘the original drive’ for the drive currently holding the data and ‘ the new drive’ for the account you transfer your data. Keep reading to learn more. 

Method 1: Directly Share with the New Drive

You can use the share feature if you transfer only one or a few files from the original drive to the new one. Here are the steps you follow:

Step 1: Log in to your Google Drive 

Open your browser and search drive.google.com and enter your Google account username and password.

Step 2: Locate the files you want to move to the new drive 

Click once on a file to select it. If you need to select several files, click on the first file, then hold down the “cmd” or “ctrl” key when selecting the rest. 

Step 3: Right-click to open a menu and select share 

Ensure that all the items you want to share are selected when clicking the share option. 

Step 4: Enter details of the new drive. 

On the pop-up screen, enter the email address of the new drive 

Step 5: Set share settings to Editor and send 

Click on the drop-down menu next to the new drive address and select editor. Click on send to transfer the files to the new drive. 

Step 6: Change the ownership of the files or folders you shared

Confirm that the files or folders you shared are still selected, then right-click and select share. You will see that the new drive is now part of the share list. Click on the drop-down arrow next to ‘editor’ at the new drive and select transfer ownership. 

Step 7: Send an invitation to transfer ownership. 

The new drive will need to accept the request to become the owner of the files or folder. Click on send invitation to send this request. 

Step 8: Log in to the new drive and accept ownership 

Open the new drive’s Gmail account, and you will find an email titled invitation to own. Open the email and click on respond. 

Step 9: Click accept to become the new owner 

After clicking accept, you will realize that the original drive is now the editor and the new drive is the owner. 

Step 10: Remove access from the original drive. 

Click on the drop-down arrow next to editor, which is to the right of the original drive, and select remove access. You will have transferred the file or folder to the new drive. 

We recommend this thorough video by Pocketful of Primary on YouTube that details the methods pictured in its article for transferring files from your Drive.

Method 2: Download and Upload

The download and upload method means downloading the files or folders from the original drive and uploading them to the new drive. To use this method, you will need a storage device, such as the hard drive on your computer. Here are the steps:

Step 1: Log in to your Google Drive and select the files you want to download 

Click on the first file and hold “cmd” or “ctrl” to select the rest. You can change the file format to list layout from the top menu to make picking easier.

Step 2: Download the files 

Right-click the selected files and select download. Google Drive will compress these files into a zip folder and download the files. The folder will be saved in the default location for downloaded files on your device. The process may take several hours to complete if you download many files and folders. Stay connected to the internet to keep the files downloading. 

Step 3: Log in to the new drive account 

Open Gmail in the new Drive account and click on the 3-by-3 dots at the top right of the Gmail account to open the Google products menu. Select Drive in the menu. 

Step 4: Select file upload

Click on the drop-down menu next to my drive and select file upload.

Step 5: Select the storage location with the files you downloaded and upload them 

After clicking file up load, the computer opens your external storage location. Select the files in downloads and click open to upload. You get a message at the bottom right corner of your screen that the files are uploading and that the upload is complete. 

Step 6: Extract the files 

On the list of files in the new account, you will see the files you uploaded. Right-click on the files and select open with, then select zip extractor. To extract the files to drive. 

Step 7: Delete the files from the original drive. 

If you don’t wish to have a copy of the transferred files, go back to that drive, right-click on the files, and select remove. 

Method 3: Use Google Take-Out

Google Takeout is a product by Google that you can use to make an archive of your files for easier transferring. It is an ideal method to use if you intend to transfer your entire drive to another account. Nevertheless, you still have the option to select the files you want to transfer if you are transferring only a part of the drive. 

When using Google Takeout, the app creates a copy of your selected files and makes a zip file with these data. You get a link to this zip file on your Gmail account. You can then send the link to another account and upload the files there. Here are the steps you follow:

Step 1: Log in to your Google Takeout app 

Open your browser and log in to takeout.google.com. Enter details of your Google account to continue.  

Step 2: Select the Google Drive

First, click deselect all, then scroll down in the list until you find Drive, and check the box next to it. 

Step 3: Select the specific files you want to transfer 

The drive will default include everything you have in your Google Drive. To select files, click the button to the right of ‘all drive data included.’ Check the boxes to the right of the folders with the files you want to transfer and click ok. 

Step 4: Scroll down and click on ‘next step’ 

Step 5: Select your preferred delivery method 

You can choose to use the default delivery method. Otherwise, you can change them to fit your preferences. Here is what each step entails. 

Destination 

Under destination, you select where you intend to have the zip file link. If you want to have it through an email, select send the download link via email. Otherwise, you can send it to Dropbox, Box, One Drive, or Drive. 

Frequency 

You set frequency if you want to transfer these files from time to time. If you are doing it only once, select export once. 

File type 

.zip is the most recommendable file type for transferring these files. However, if you have Linux Operating System, you can use the .tgz file format. 

File size

Select the size you wish to have for the compressed file. If the size you select is bigger than the compressed file, Google Takeout will divide the compressed file into several files. 

Step 6: Click on Create export to begin exporting the files.

The process can take hours to days to complete. You get a notification through your email when the export is done. 

Step 7: Download the files 

Open the original account’s Gmail and open the email informing you that your Google data is ready to download. Select download your files. 

Step 8: Extract the files 

On the manage your exports screen, click download to extract the files 

Step 9: Upload it to the new drive 

Open the new drive and upload the zip file, which is now stored in the computer’s local storage for downloads. 

Method 4: Use Third-Party Options

When transferring your Google drive to another account, you can use third-party options for faster and less complicated steps. Some third-party apps you can use are Multcloud, CBackup, and Kernel Google Drive Migration, among others. Consider downloading one of these apps, especially if you frequently transfer data.  

Here, we shall look at transferring data from one drive to another using MultCloud.

Step 1: Create a Multcloud account

Open your browser and search multcloud.com. Enter your details in the fields provided.

Step 2: Allow Multcloud to access your Google drive. 

On the left side menu, select Add cloud under My cloud Drives, then select Google Drive under personal clouds. 

Step 3: Add the new drive account

Repeat step 2 above and add the new drive account 

Step 4: Select the files you want to transfer

Open the original drive and select the files you want to send by checking the boxes to the left of the file name. 

Step 5: Send to the new drive

Select copy at the top menu and select the new drive. Click OK and wait for the files to copy to that drive. You can select cut instead of copy if you intend to delete the files transferred from the original drive. 

Conclusion 

Transferring data from one Google Drive to another is a great solution if you run out of space on one account. You can use any of the four methods above to help you safely transfer data from one account to another. Consider using a third-party option such as MultCloud to complete the process within the shortest time possible. Ensure you have a reliable network for a smooth process in any method you choose. 

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