Get started with shared drives
On this page
- Create a shared drive and add members
- Change a member's access to a shared drive
- See members of a shared drive
- Remove members of a shared drive
- Delete a shared drive
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Create a shared drive and add members
Create a shared drive
Shared drives are only available for work or school accounts, and you’re not currently signed in.
Sign in to your work or school account
Note: You can create shared drives only if your edition supports them and your administrator allows you to create them.
- On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
- On the left, click Shared drives.
- At the top left, click New.
- Enter a name for the shared drive.
- Click Create.
Who you can add to a shared drive
You can add anyone in your organization as a member of a shared drive.
If your organization allows, you can add external people to a shared drive as long as they have an email address associated with a Google account. Any content an external person contributes (for example, edits to, creating, or uploading a file) in a shared drive created by someone in your organization is transferred to and owned by your organization.
For people whose Google Workspace edition doesn't include shared drives, you can only add them with Viewer access. However, you might be able to give them comment or edit access to specific files in the shared drive, depending on folder permissions. See How sharing a folder in a shared drive works.
What members can do at different access levels
When you add a new member to a shared drive, you can set their access level:
- If possible, give collaborators Manager or Content manager access so they aren’t limited in how they work together in the shared drive.
- Give members who need to edit files in Google Drive for desktopor in the Chrome OS Files app at leastContent manager access.
- If you’re concerned about members deleting files from a shared drive, give themContributor, Commenter, or Viewer access only. These members can’t delete files.
| Access level | |||||
| Permission | Manager | Content manager | Contributor | Commenter | Viewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Can view files and folders | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Can comment on files | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Can edit files | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Can create and add files, can create folders | ✔ | ✔ | ✔* | ||
| Can add and remove people and groups onspecific files | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Can restore files from the Trash (up to 30 days) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Can move files from My Drive to a shared drive | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Can move files and folders to the Trash | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Can move files and folders within a shared drive | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Can add or remove people and groups onspecific folders in a shared drive | ✔ | ✔** | |||
| Can move folders from My Drive to a shared drive | ✔ | ||||
| Can move files from one shared drive to another shared drive | ✔ | ||||
| Can add or remove members of a shared drive | ✔ | ||||
| Can change member access levels | ✔ | ||||
| Can permanently delete files in the Trash | ✔ | ||||
| Can rename or change theme | ✔ | ||||
| Can delete theshared drive | ✔ | ||||
* In Google Drive for desktop or files in the Chrome OS Files app, Contributor access gives only read access to files. To allow users to create, upload, and edit files in a shared drive in Google Drive for desktop and Chrome OS, give the user Content manager or Manager access.
** Administrators or Managers can prevent Content managers from sharing folders.
Add members to a shared drive
Requires Manager access
- On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
- In the left column, click Shared drives and double-click one of your shared drives.
- At the top, click Manage members.
- Add names, email addresses, or a Google Group.
- By default, new members will be Content managers. They can upload, edit, move, or delete all files.
- To change the role for a new member, select a role from the dropdown.
- To choose to notify new members of their access, click Notify people.
- Click Send.
Change a member's access to a shared drive
Requires Manager access
- On the left, click a shared drive.
- At the top, next to the shared drive name, click the Down arrow
Manage members. - Next to a member’s name, click the Down arrow and select a new access level.
- Click Done.
Manage members.
See members of a shared drive
- On the left, click a shared drive.
- Under the shared drive name, click the number of members.
Email members of a shared drive
- On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
- At the left, click Shared drives and double-click one of your shared drives.
- At the top, next to the name of your shared drive click the Down arrow .
- Click Email Members.
- Enter your message and click Send.
.
Remove members of a shared drive
Requires Manager access
Members who are Managers can change what other members can do.
- On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
- At the left, click Shared drives and double-click one of your shared drives.
- At the top, next to the name of your shared drive, click the Down arrow .
- Click Manage members.
- To the right of the personyou want to change, click the Down arrow .
- Select a role or Remove.
- Click Save.
Note: When you remove a member from a shared drive, they also lose access to any files and folders in the shared drive that were directly shared with them.
Delete a shared drive
Tip: If you aren’t ready to delete a shared drive, but you aren’t actively using it, you can hide it. Hiding a shared drive removes it from your view. See Best practices for shared drives.
Before you can delete a shared drive:
- The shared drive has to be empty
- You need to be a Manager of the shared drive.
Requires Manager access
- On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
- On the left, click Shared drives.
- Right-click the shared drive you want to delete.
- Click Delete shared drive.
To empty a shared drive before you delete it, put the files in the trash or move them to "My Drive."
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