Google Shared Drives and My Drive Differences

Types of Google Drives

  • My Drive – used for storing personal documents and files
  • Shared drives – used for storing documents and files to be shared among colleagues or teams and that should not be owned by any one individual
Common Questions Shared drives My Drive
Who owns files and folders? The group The individual who created the file or folder.
Can I restore files? Yes, if you have the role of Manager, Content Manager, or Contributor in the Shared drive. Yes, if you created the file.
Can I move files? Yes, if you have the role of Manager, Content Manager, or Contributor in the Shared drive. Yes
Can I move folders? Yes, if you have the role of Manager, Content Manager, or Contributor in the Shared drive. To move folders from My Drive to a Shared drive, see Moving Data from My Drive to Shared drives. Yes, but not to Shared drives unless you request access via the Help Desk to do so.
Can I share files and folders? All team members see the same set of files and folders. Folders within a Shared drive can be shared by drive Managers. Yes, in My Drive you can share files and folders to which you have the appropriate access.
How long do deleted files stay in the trash? Each Shared drive has its own trash. Only members with the Manager or Content Manger roles can delete files. After 30 days, any file or folder placed in the trash will be permanently deleted. Files in My Drive trash are deleted forever after 30 days.
What are the inherited permissions? Permissions set on a specific file in My Drive will be transferred when moved to a Shared drive. Example: If frosta@lafayette.edu is not a member of the Shared drive but she is an editor on a file moved to the Shared drive, she will retain access to the file after it’s moved to Shared drive. This is not the case for folders that have been moved from My Drive to Shared drive. Files inherit the permissions of a folder.
Attaching a Google file to a Google Calendar invitation From Google Calendar, navigate to any Shared drive file, or search for it when attaching a file to the invitation. From Google Calendar, navigate to any My Drive file, or search for it when attaching a file to the invitation.
Access via Drive for desktop Yes Yes, but shortcuts to folders in My Drive will not display in Drive for desktop.
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