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Using Shared Drives in Google Drive

Using Shared Drives in Google Drive

Audience: Staff, Students

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how to use a shared Google Drive for collaborative work.

Summary: Google Shared Drives are shared spaces where teams can store, search, and access their files anywhere, from any device. Unlike files in My Drive, files in Shared Drives belong to the team instead of an individual. Even if members leave, the files stay where they are so your team can continue to share information.

Table of Contents:

Using Shared Drives

  • When logged into your Google account, Google Drive can be accessed by clicking on the Google Apps icon and selecting Drive.

  • On the left side bar, you should see both My Drive and your available Shared Drives.

 

Creating a New Shared Drive

  1. Right click Shared Drives on the left side bar. 

  2. Click New shared drive… 

  3. Enter a name for your new Shared Drive. 

  4. Click Create. 

 

Adding/Removing Members & Setting Permissions

To add members and set permissions, you need “full access” permission. 

  1. On the left side bar, select one of your Shared Drives. 

  2. At the top, under the Shared Drive name, select Manage Members.

  3. Add names or email addresses. 

  4. To change the user’s access, click the down arrow and select a member type.

    1. You can also remove a member from this sub-menu 

    2. As an option, you can enter a message.

  5. If you don’t want to send notifications, select Skip sending notifications.

    1. For more information on member types, see the list below: 

 

Creating Folders

  1. On the left side bar, select a Shared Drive or an existing folder. 

  2. Click New and then select Folder.

  3. Enter a folder name for your new folder. 

  4. Click Create. 

 

Adding & Opening Files

  1. To add files in a Shared Drive, you need edit access permission.

    • Any files you add are owned by the team.

    • If you leave the Shared Drive, your files remain. 

  2. In the left side bar, click a Shared Drive folder. 

  3. Drag an existing file to upload it from your computer.

    1. Or, click New and choose an option. 

      1. To create a file, select the file type you want to create such as Google Docs. 

      2. To upload a file, select File Upload.

        1. Navigate to the file and open it. 

  4. Double-click a file to open it.