How to Transfer Ownership of a Google Drive Folder or File

Are you one of those individuals who have multiple Google accounts for various purposes? Perhaps you have one for personal use, one for work, one for testing online apps, and maybe even one that you can’t quite recall the purpose of. Having multiple Google accounts can be convenient, but it can also lead to situations where you accidentally save a file or folder in the wrong account. In such cases, sharing the file with the desired account might not be the best solution, as it occupies space in both accounts. The ideal solution is to transfer ownership of the Google Drive folder or file, and it’s not as complicated as it may sound.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the process of transferring ownership of a Google Drive folder or file, ensuring that you can efficiently manage your data across different accounts.

How to Transfer Ownership of a Google Drive Folder or File
How to Transfer Ownership of a Google Drive Folder or File

Sharing the Folder or File

Before you can proceed with changing the ownership of a folder or file, you need to share it with the person who will ultimately own it. This step is relatively straightforward:

  1. Right-click on the folder or file you want to share.
  2. Select “Share” from the menu.
  3. In the “Add people and groups” field, add the name or email address of the person you want to share it with.

Now that you’ve shared the folder or file, let’s move on to the next step.

Switching Ownership of the Folder or File

Here’s where the real magic happens—transferring the responsibility for the content to a different account:

  1. Right-click on the folder or file you want to switch ownership of.
  2. Once again, select “Share” from the menu.
  3. Click on the small triangle located to the right of the name or email address of the person you want to switch ownership to.
  4. In the drop-down menu that appears, select “Transfer ownership.”
  5. A pop-up will appear, asking you to confirm that you want to transfer ownership to that person. Select “Send invitation.”

Accepting Ownership

If you’re the intended new owner, you will receive an email titled “Invitation to own [file or folder name].” The email will contain two buttons allowing you to either accept or decline ownership, along with a warning about potential storage usage.

In case you don’t receive the email, you can also accept ownership through the following steps:

  1. Go to Google Drive and click on the shared folder or file. (You can easily find it by clicking on the “Shared with me” link in the left-hand menu.)
  2. At the top of the page, where you see the location and name of the folder or file, you’ll also notice an icon with two people, indicating that it’s shared. Click on this icon.
  3. A pop-up window will display you as the potential new owner, along with a button labeled “Accept ownership.” Click on this button and, on the subsequent pop-up, choose either “Decline” or “Accept.”

Congratulations, you are now the owner of the folder or file, and the previous owner will be notified of this change.

Dealing with Ownership of Files within a Folder

One potential inconvenience to keep in mind is that when you change the ownership of a folder, the files within the folder will still be listed with their original owner. If you have numerous files to transfer, you can do so individually by following the steps mentioned earlier. However, if you have a substantial number of files, a more efficient approach is to use Google Takeout.

Using Google Takeout

  1. Go to Google Takeout for the account in question.
  2. Click on “Deselect all” at the top of the page.
  3. Scroll down to “Drive” and select it.
  4. You’ll see a button labeled “All Drive data included.” Click on it. In the resulting pop-up, uncheck “Include all files and folders in Drive,” then click “Deselect all.” Finally, click on the folder you want to download and select “OK.”
  5. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and choose “Next step.”
  6. Check the formats you want to export in and select “Create export.”

You will be notified when your export is ready. You can then import it into your desired Drive account. Once the import is complete, don’t forget to delete the folder and its files from the original account.

In conclusion, transferring ownership of a Google Drive folder or file may seem like a daunting task at first, but with these simple steps, you can efficiently manage your data across multiple accounts. Whether it’s for personal use, work, or other purposes, knowing how to switch ownership can make your digital life much more organized and convenient.