Stop Losing Business Files: How to Set Up Google Shared Drives Properly

If a contractor, bookkeeper, or employee left your business today, would you still have full access to every file they created for you?

If your team relies on standard shared folders inside “My Drive”, the answer might surprise you—and not in a good way.

In this guide, we break down why standard shared folders leave your business documents vulnerable, how Google Shared Drives solve the ownership problem permanently, and the exact step-by-step process to set them up securely without technical headaches.

Shared Folders vs. Shared Drives: What’s the Difference?

To understand why your files might be at risk, you need to know how Google Drive handles ownership.

• Shared Folders (My Drive): You create a folder in your personal or work “My Drive” and share it with others. While you own the folder, any file uploaded by a contractor or team member remains their personal property. They can delete that file, rename it, or revoke access at any time – even long after they have stopped working with you.
• Shared Drives: This is a dedicated, standalone storage area for your business. Every file placed in a Shared Drive is owned centrally by the business, regardless of who created or uploaded it. Individual users cannot delete or walk away with company files unless you explicitly grant them permission.

Rule of Thumb: If you have even one external contractor, bookkeeper, or team member uploading files to your system, you need to set up at least one Google Shared Drive today.

Step-by-Step: Setting Up Your Google Shared Drive

Setting up a Shared Drive takes under 10 minutes. Follow these simple steps to make sure your access and permissions are locked down correctly from day one.

Step 1: Enable Shared Drive Creation in Admin Controls

Before creating a drive, make sure the feature is turned on in your Google Workspace admin console:

1. Log in to admin.google.com.
2. In the left-hand menu, navigate to Apps > Google Workspace > Drive and Docs.
3. Click on Sharing settings.
4. Scroll down to Shared drive creation.
5. Ensure the option “Prevent users from creating new shared drives” is not selected.

Step 2: Create Your New Shared Drive

1. Go to drive.google.com.
2. On the left menu, click Shared drives.
3. Click the + New button.
4. Enter a clear title (e.g., Finance & Operations or Client Projects) and click Create.

Step 3: Add Members with the Right Access Level

By default, Google assigns new members as “Content Managers”, which gives them the ability to delete files. For most team members and external contractors, you want to restrict this power.

1. Inside your new Shared Drive, click Manage members at the top right.
2. Enter the email addresses of the people who need access.
3. Click the access drop-down menu and select Contributor.
4. Click Share (if prompted with a warning about external users, click Share anyway if you trust the recipient).

Assigning the Contributor role allows people to add, edit, and collaborate on files, but prevents them from permanently deleting anything from your drive.

Additional (optional) ways to control who sees your documents

Lock Down Printing, Copying, and Downloading

If you are dealing with sensitive information like payroll data, or client records, you can prevent members from extracting files:

1. Click the drop-down arrow next to the Shared Drive name.
2. Select Shared drive settings.
3. Uncheck the box under “People who can download, copy, and print”.
4. Click Done.

Create Limited Access Folders for Managers

Need a restricted sub-folder inside an open Shared Drive (like a manager-only folder for performance reviews or salary discussions)? You don’t need to build an entirely new drive.

1. Create a new folder inside your Shared Drive.
2. Right-click the folder name, select Share, and then click Share again (or click the Share icon in the top toolbar).
3. Click the gear icon (settings) in the top right corner.
4. Click Limit access.
5. Return to the sharing menu and manually add only the specific management team members who should have access.

Moving Files to Your Shared Drive (And the “External Owner” Trap)

Moving existing files from “My Drive” into a Shared Drive is straightforward:

1. Go to My Drive and locate the file.
2. Right-click the file and choose Organise > Move (or select the file and click the Move icon on the menu toolbar).
3. Select your new Shared Drive and click Move.
4. Accept the prompt acknowledging that file ownership will transfer to your organisation.

How to Fix Externally Owned Files

Google will not allow you to directly move a file that is owned by an external Google account. Here is how to locate and fix those files:

1. In the top search bar of Google Drive, type owner:contractor@email.com (replacing this with their actual email address) and press Enter.
2. If you are still in contact: Ask the owner to move the files into the Shared Drive directly (ensure you have given them Contributor access first).
3. If you are no longer in contact: Right-click the file and select Make a copy. This creates a fresh duplicate owned by your account, which can then be moved into the Shared Drive.

Warning: Creating a copy transfers ownership to you, but you will lose the original file’s URL link, version history, and existing user comments. Only use this method if you cannot contact the original owner.

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