Shared drives (Team Drives)

Google Workspace Logo

Unlimited storage is being phased out

Best uses for Shared Drives

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

Training & Support

How to use Google Shared Drives for your team at UC Berkeley

Google Workspace Shared Drive Set up Guide

Shared Drives Login

Google Drive Logo

NoteShared Drives may only be created and owned by Special Purpose Accounts (SPAs) -- you must first be logged in as the SPA in order to create a new Shared Drive. 

Once you are a member of a Shared Drive you can access from the Drive interface

At a Glance

Key benefits:

  • Files are owned by the team so if an employee leaves the organization, the files remain in Shared drives
  • All team members within the Shared Drive see the same content 
  • When you add a new member to a Google Group, that member is automatically added to all Shared drives that include that group
  • Integrates with Google Drive File Stream

Known limitations:

  • Restrictions moving folders between My Drive and Shared drives
  • Cannot use Shared drives with Backup and Sync
  • Cannot use File Upload feature in Google Forms that are owned by the Shared drive
  • Cannot add Google Maps content into Shared drives
  • Permission levels in Shared drives work differently from My Drive and should be reviewed closely before determining which role to assign a team member to. See: What can you do with Shared Drives? 
  • Shared drives have different limits than standard My Drive
  • Items dragged to the Trash in Shared drives are automatically and permanentely removed after 30 days (consistent with Gmail, different from My Drive)