Learn how to collaborate effectively and efficiently using Google Drive.
Optional: Check Your Google Account Usage
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To see the breakdown of usage in your Google account, go to https://drive.google.com/settings/storage
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To see all the files in your Google MyDrive sorted by size, go to https://drive.google.com/drive/quota
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To see the usage in a SPA, log into Google or Box as that SPA, and then follow the links above.
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Be sure you are logged into your Berkeley Google account, and not a personal Google account. To be sure, you can use a private or incognito browsing window.
1. My Drive vs. Shared Drives vs. Shared with me
2. Shared Drive Member Management and Permissions
- All members of a Shared drive have access to all content in the Shared drive.
- Unlike in My Drive, there is no way to exclude a member from any single file or folder inside of a Shared drive.
- Consider the five levels of permissions and roles for each member of the Shared drive carefully as these permissions extend to everything in the Shared drive.
- If you need someone to have access to only a subset of the content in a Shared drive, do not add them as a member. Instead control their access to a folder or file by sharing items directly as you normally would in My Drive. If it's okay for them to see all content, consider adding them as a Viewer to the Shared Drive and then expand their role inside a subfolder.
- A Shared drive is expansive only in its permissions, you cannot restrict access.
- Note that an easy way to manage your Shared drive membership might be to create a bConnected List, which is a Berkeley Google Group and add that group to the Shared drive with the correct level of access. Then as you need to change the members of your department/unit/team, simply do so in the bConnected List. Learn more about creating a bConnected List.
3. Finding Content in Google Drive - Including Content at Risk
Learn more about how you can retain access to content owned by expired accounts.
4. Moving Files and Folders Into a Shared Drive
- As long as you have Contributor access or above in a Shared Drive, you can move files where you are an editor or that you own from your My Drive or Shared with me into that Shared Drive.
- When you move a file into a Shared Drive the ownership changes to the department/unit/team who owns the Shared Drive. You will see a popup that says, "Ownership will transfer from you to UC Berkeley."
- In order to move folders from My Drive into a Shared Drive you must be the owner or editor of the folder.
- Some files or folders cannot be moved into a Shared Drive. If more than 10% cannot be moved, the move will fail. If it is less than 10%, shortcuts will be added to the Shared Drive.
Learn more about moving content from your My Drive into a collaborative Shared Drive.
Google Drive for Desktop: Basic How-to
This video is a basic overview of how Google Drive for Desktop works.
Google Drive for Desktop: Installing and Advantages
By the end of this video, you will know how to:
- Install Google Drive for Desktop on your computer.
- Use it with your Berkeley account.
- Understand some key considerations and settings when using this application.
Here is the link to download and install Google Drive for Desktop.
Google Drive for Desktop: Using Drive to Download Files
By the end of this video, you will know how to:
- Use Google Drive for Desktop to quickly download your Google Drive content locally to your computer.
- Change the settings from Streaming to Mirroring and what this means.
- Understand exactly how to move this content into another folder and disconnect your account so that you can now delete the content on your Google Drive in order to reduce your storage usage.