This article does not describe moving content to or from shared drives. For details, see Move content to a shared drive.
Shared folders are different from shared drives. Moving an item from a shared folder may change who can see it and what permissions apply to the item. Consider using shared drives in your organization instead of simply sharing folders.
Note: If you move folders with a lot of files or subfolders, it might take some time to move all the items to the new location.
Before you begin
To move files or folders from a shared folder to My Drive:
- Make sure to share the item with can Edit access.
- Enable the Editors can change permissions and share setting for the file or folder. For instructions, go to Restrict sharing options on Drive files.
File permissions
Moving a file or folder from a shared folder into My Drive is a move and not a copy. The moved content is no longer in the shared folder. As a result:
- Any permissions that the moved content inherited from the shared folder are removed. It inherits new permissions from the destination folder, in addition to other, explicitly set, permissions.
- Users no longer see the moved files or folders in the shared folder.
Example
- A user shared a file with users A and B.
Users A and B have access to the file, regardless of its location. - A user shared a file stored in folder X with users A and C.
Users A, B, and C have access to the file. - A file that is shared with user D is moved to folder Y.
Users A, B and D have access to the file, but user C no longer sees it in folder X and no longer has access to the file.
Notifications when moving files
When a user moves a file from a shared folder to My Drive, they see a warning before the move takes effect. This notification helps reduce the risk of a user accidentally moving files and removing access from other users.
If the user proceeds with the move, they see another message notifying them of the change, giving them a chance to undo it.
Users can also track activity for files and folders in My Drive to see the history of any changes, including notices when files are moved. So, if you share a folder from My Drive and someone moves an item out of the shared folder, you can see a notice in the activity history that the file was removed. The notice also tells you who moved the file and when.
What should your organization do?
If your organization doesn’t have an extensive shared folder structure, you might not need to do anything. However, organizations that use shared folders extensively might:
- Consider using shared drives in your organization instead of sharing folders—Read What are shared drives?
- Lock down your shared folders to Can view access only—If a user only has view access to a folder, they can’t remove or add files to it. This is the safest way to ensure someone doesn’t add or remove content from a shared folder. However, develop a business process to identify people with the can Edit sharing setting for a shared folder. Alternatively, you might want to educate your users to be careful about granting edit access to shared folders.
- Add shortcuts instead of moving files—Train your users to add shortcuts wherever they want to access a file from another folder. Refer them to Create a shortcut for a file or folder and Find files & folders with Google Drive shortcuts.
Tip: If an item shows up in your My Drive root that previously wasn't there, read Find a file you don't think you deleted.
