Overview

Google Shared Drives and Google Shared Folders are two features that allow you to collaborate with others. While both are useful for sharing content, each has a distinct design that is important to understand when safely sharing and backing up your content.

Key Difference

The key difference between Google Shared Drives and Google Shared Folders is ownership.

• Google Shared Drives: Ownership of the files and folders inside the drive is held by the drive itself, and all members of the drive have access to and control over the files and folders as set by the drive permissions.
  • If someone separates from NC State, the content created by that person in a Google Shared Drive is not affected.
• Google Shared Folders: The owner of the folder retains ownership; the owner(s) of the files within the Shared Folder retain ownership.
  • If someone separates from NC State, the content they created and shared using a Shared Folder is removed and no longer accessible by those the content was shared out to.

Visual Guide

Google Shared Drives vs. Shared Folders

How to tell the difference between a Shared Folder and a Shared Drive in your Google Drive

1. Open your Google Drive.
2. Look for the Shared drives section in the left menu panel, which has a portrait-style icon next to it, and click to open this menu item:
   
   
   
   You will see a list of the Shared Drives that you have access to. Within each Shared Drive, the files and folders are displayed as well as a list of the members who have access to the drive.
3. Look for the Shared with me section in the left menu panel, which has a two-person silhouette icon next to it, and click to open this menu item:
   
   
   
   This is where you will find all the folders and files that have been shared with you by others. If the icon is a folder, it is a Google Shared Folder. If it is a Google Shared Folder, you will see a list of the files and folders that are inside it.

How to tell what organization owns a Shared Drive?

1. Open your Google Drive.
2. In the left menu list, select Shared drives.
3. Click once to select the Shared Drive that you want to check.
4. On the right side below the title bar with your Google account image, click the ⓘ icon.
5. A panel will open on the right side of the screen with information about the Shared Drive.  You can find the name of the organization that hosts the Shared Drive under the "Owner" section.
   
   

Finding Shared Files

1. Open your Google Drive.
2. In the left menu list, select Shared with me.

Every file in this list is a file that is owned by someone else. As a result, every file listed can disappear without warning when the owner departs NC State.

Lifecycle

NC State Google Shared Drives are subject to deletion when there is no NC State email address (@ncsu.edu) in the Manager role.

How to migrate content to a Google Shared Drive

Please see the Move Google Drive Files to an NC State Google Shared Drive article for more information on moving your NC State Google Drive content to a Shared Drive.

Support

If you need further assistance, please contact the NC State Help Desk at 919-515-4357 or submit a Get Help request at help.ncsu.edu.