How to Move Files from One Google Drive Account to Another

Google Drive is one of the best cloud storage services. From providing a safe, easily accessible place for your backups to sharing large files on the cloud with other people, or transferring files to another account. Google Drive covers all the bases.

Transferring Files from One Google Drive Account to Another is Performed in Different Ways

• You can copy the contents and paste it into a new document within the other user account, but that only works if the other account is yours since you need the password.
  
• You can make a copy and share it to another Google account, but that syncs all changes, including if the doc gets deleted.
  
• You can make a copy, share it, and then change the owner to the other account (or you if it is your account) to give them complete control.
  
• You can download the doc and upload it into another Google Drive account, but this requires a password also unless you send the file to the other recipient and let them upload it to their Drive account.

As you can see above, there are many ways to move a Drive file to another account, but each one depends on where and why you are moving it. This article walks you through the file transferring process and the options to do it.

Share Google Drive Files to Another Account using a Browser

Windows PCs, Linux PCs, Macs, and Chromebooks may be vastly different, but browsing the web isn’t. Google Drive is a web app accessed via a browser. So, for any device, the principle remains the same. You can share a file to another account to give it access, which transfers the existing file over so that it resides in both accounts. However, this process syncs changes to both locations, meaning that all changes get saved, including file deletion.

Follow these steps to share files from one Google Drive account to another:

1. Open Google Drive in a browser. Ensure that you’ve signed in to the right account by clicking the “user photo” in the upper-right corner of the page.
   
   
   
2. Navigate to the file/folder that you want to move. You can select multiple files at once. To do this, hold down the “Ctrl” button on your keyboard and click each file that you want to select. You can also left-click on the empty space and select files.
   
   
   
3. Once all the files/folders have been selected, right-click on one of them. Then, select “Share.” Alternatively, you can use the “Share icon,” located in the upper panel on your page. A window will pop up, prompting you to select the accounts where you want to share the files.
   
   
   
4. Enter the email address of the second Google Drive account, find the account on the list and click the current role next to it. Select “Editor.” Finally, click “Send.”
   
   

Copy Google Drive Files to Another Account using a PC Browser

If you’d like to transfer the file to another Google account without keeping it in the original, you can choose the “Make a copy” option, paste it into the second account, and delete the original. To finalize the transfer if you used the first process above, copy the files from the “Shared” folder and move them to a new one in the second account. The copy becomes independent of the original and changes will not sync, including deletion. Here’s how to do it:

1. Press “shift + left-click” in Windows or “shift + one-finger click” in Mac to select the files in Google Drive that you want to copy.
   
   
   
2. “Right-click” in Windows or “double-finger click” in Mac on one of the selected/highlighted files.
   
   
   
3. Choose “Make a copy.”
   
   
   
4. Rename the copied file(s).
   
   
   
5. Move the copied files wherever you want (outside of the “Shared” folder.)
   
   

Note: You won’t be able to copy the entire shared folder—just the files in it. You can delete the files from the original location if they are no longer needed.

Transfer Google Drive Files to Another Account using Mobile        

The principles of moving files to another drive are the same with iOS and Android devices. You select the files/folders that you want to move, you share them with the destination Drive, you go to the destination Drive, make copies, and move them wherever you want. Still, the steps aren’t identical because Google Drive on iOS and Android look different. Just do the following:

1. Select the file that you want to move. Tap the “horizontal ellipsis” (three horizontal dots) in the upper-left corner of the screen and select “Share.”
   
   
   
2. Enter the address of the target Google Drive account. Ensure that the account in question is labeled as “Editor.”
   
   
3. Log in to the other Google Drive account and access the files shared from the original account. Select the files that you want to move like earlier. Then, tap the three-dot icon and select Make a copy from the list.
   
   
   
4. Select the location where you want to save the copied files. Locate the copied files and tap on the “horizontal ellipsis” (three horizontal dots). Rename the copies according to your preference.
   
   

How to Download Google Drive Files To Your Device

In most cases, if you want to open Google Drive files that aren’t photos, videos, and such, you can do it directly on Google Drive. However, even if we’re talking about this device type, you might want to move them from the Drive to your device. Here’s how to go about it.

Download then Upload Google Drive Files to Another Account using a PC Browser

Once again, the principle of transferring files from Google Drive to the device’s hard drive is the same. Essentially, you’ll be downloading them, then uploading them to the second account. After that, you can delete the original since they are not exactly the same file.

1. Select the file/files that you wish to transfer.
   
   
   
2. Right-click on any of the selected ones.
   
   
   
3. Select “Download.”
   
   
   
4. Download the file(s) as you would any other file.
   
   
   
5. Log into the second Google Drive account, then select My Drive towards the top.
   
   

Download then Upload Google Drive Files to Another Account using Android

Using the Google Drive app in Android allows you to download files directly to your phone, whether by clicking on the file or selecting the option while the file is open. It’s almost identical to the browser steps. Here’s what you do:

1. Select the file you wish to download.
   
   
   
2. Tap the “vertical ellipsis” (three-vertical dots) icon in the upper-right section.
   
   
   
3. Select “Download.”
   
   
   

Download then Upload Google Drive Files to Another Account using iOS

While Android may have a direct “Download” option within Drive, iOS does not.

1. Select the file or files that you want to download.
   
   
   
2. Tap the “vertical ellipsis” (three-vertical dots) icon in the upper-right section.
   
   
   
3. Choose “Download.”
   
   

Yes, it’s as simple as that.

How to Upload Google Drive Files From Your Device

You can also move files the other way around. This is called “uploading” the files, and it’s all pretty straightforward.

Browser

The principle remains the same for all three platforms. Start by opening your preferred browser and logging in to the destination Google Drive account.

Method 1

1. Go to your Drive
   
   
   
2. Select My Drive toward the top
   
   
   
3. Click Upload files or Upload folder
   
   
   
4. Select the files/folders that you want to upload
   
   
   
5. Upload will start automatically
   
   

Now, you can move the uploaded items to the desired folder. You can create a new folder by clicking My Drive and move the new files by selecting them and click-and-dragging them to the newly created folder or any other destination.

Method 2

1. Create or navigate to the folder that you want to upload the files to
   
   
   
2. Select the files on your computer device
   
   
   
3. Use drag-and-drop to have them uploaded to the Drive
   
   

iOS/Android

Uploading from your iOS/Android phone or tablet to Google Drive is just as simple. This is how you do it:

1. Find the file that you want to upload to Google Drive
   
   
   
2. Go to the file options
   
   
   
   
3. Select Share
   
   
   
   
4. Choose the Google Drive option
   
   
   
5. Select the Google Drive account you want to upload the file to
   
   
   
6. Select the location
   
   
   
7. Upload the file
   
   

Additional FAQ

How many owners do Google Drive files have?

There are three different role titles in Google Drive: Owner, Editor, and Viewer. Every Google Drive item has to have at least one Owner. By default, the Owner title belongs to the person who uploaded a file/folder. However, the Owner can add more Owners to the Drive. The number is unlimited – everyone can be assigned the role of Owner. However, not even the Owner can assign another Owner using the mobile Google Drive app.

What is the size of Google Drive?

Every Google Drive account starts with a free plan, which has a 15 GB limit. This is enough for most non-professional Google Drive users. Upgrading to Google One will increase the storage limit to a minimum of 100 GB, depending on the plan. Upgrading to Google One gives you additional benefits, including advanced support.

File Transfer on Google Drive

We hope that we’ve shed some light on the basic Google Drive file transfer options. If you have any questions or want to add anything, don’t be a stranger – contact us and join the discussion with our community in the comments below.