How to Change Google Drive Owner and Setup

Changing the owner of your Google Drive account is a relatively straightforward process, but it requires some setup first.

To change the owner of your Google Drive account, you'll need to have a Google Workspace account, which is a paid subscription that includes Google Drive, Gmail, and other Google apps.

First, make sure you're the primary owner of the Google Workspace account, as you won't be able to transfer ownership if you're not.

You can change the owner by going to the Google Admin Console, then clicking on "Users" and selecting the user you want to transfer ownership to.

Changing ownership of a Google Drive folder can be a bit tricky, but it's a necessary step in some situations. You can transfer ownership of a folder, but you'll still own the files inside it.

To transfer ownership, the pending owner must accept the request, and if they don't, you'll remain the owner. The pending owner will be upgraded to an Editor if they're not already, and you'll be downgraded to an Editor once they accept the request.

You can transfer ownership of a Google Drive folder to someone with whom you've already shared the folder or file. To set up the transfer, you need to suspend the current owner's account to prevent content creation or movement during the process. Make sure to keep the file hierarchy structure the same and inform the new owner not to add any files during the transfer.

Here are the steps to transfer ownership:

Note that if you've transferred ownership for multiple files and folders simultaneously, it may take some time to show the changes.

You might be wondering why you need to be the owner of a Google Drive folder. Simply put, it's because you want to control who has access to your files.

As an admin, you should change Google Drive owner in specific situations. If a user has left your organization, you need to delete their account, but before that, you can transfer the ownership of their Google Drive folder to someone else.

You also need to transfer ownership if a user of your organization gets potential security alerts from Google. This is a must-do to prevent any security risks.

Before suspending a Google account, you should transfer the ownership of important Drive files and folders. This ensures that the files are still accessible, even if the account is suspended.

You can transfer the ownership of a Google Drive folder or file to someone else, but you will still own the files inside the folder. You can only transfer ownership to people you have already shared the folder or file with.

The pending owner will receive an email notification with the ownership transfer acceptance request. If they accept the request, they will become the new owner of the file or folder, but before this, you remain the owner. If they don't accept the request, you will still be the owner.

The pending owner becomes automatically upgraded to an Editor if they are not an Editor. Once the ownership transfer is complete, you will be downgraded to an Editor, and the new owner can remove you as well.

To change the owner, you have to suspend the present owner's account to prevent the creation of additional content or movement of content throughout the ownership transfer process.

You have to ensure that the file hierarchy structure for the previous and new owner remains the same. If the hierarchy structure consists of another owner, you have to create a transfer folder for transferring their files separately.

The new owner should not add any files during the file transfer process. If you need to transfer any files that are currently present in Trash, you have to move the files from Trash, as items in the Trash folder can't be transferred.

Here are the steps to follow:

Before you start the ownership transfer process, you need to set up the necessary steps to ensure a smooth transition. To begin, you have to suspend the present owner's account, which will prevent the creation of additional content or the movement of content throughout the ownership transfer process.

You'll also need to ensure that the file hierarchy structure for the previous and new owner remains the same. If the hierarchy structure consists of another owner, you have to create a transfer folder for transferring their files separately. It's also essential to inform the new owner not to add any files during the file transfer process.

Here's a checklist to help you prepare for the ownership transfer:

To set up ownership, you'll need to suspend the current owner's account. This will prevent new content from being created or existing content from being moved during the transfer process.

First, you have to suspend the current owner's account. This action will help prevent the creation of additional content or the movement of content throughout the ownership transfer process.

Next, ensure that the file hierarchy structure for the previous and new owner remains the same. If the hierarchy structure consists of another owner, you have to create a transfer folder for transferring their files separately.

To transfer ownership, you'll need to inform the new owner not to add any files during the file transfer process.

If you need to transfer any files that are currently present in Trash, you have to move the files from Trash. You have to perform this task because items in the Trash folder can’t be transferred. Once you have deleted the owner, the Trash files will be deleted.

Here's a summary of the steps to suspend the current owner's account:

Setting up ownership on Google Drive can be a bit tricky, but don't worry, I've got you covered. You can quickly change the Google Drive folder location in 2 ways.

To change Google Drive from C to D Drive, you can follow the steps outlined in the Drive for Desktop client. This will help you free up local disk space and perform Google Drive sync.

Here are the 2 ways to change Google Drive folder location:

By changing the Google Drive folder location, you can save local disk space and perform Google Drive sync. This is especially useful if you're running low on storage space on your computer.

You can store your files in the cloud with Google Drive, making it easy to access them from anywhere. Google Drive's built-in sync capability ensures that your files, folders, and Google Docs are the same on all your devices.

Google Drive for desktop allows you to stream My Drive and Shared drives files directly from the cloud, making it seamless to open and edit files on your computer. This feature is especially useful when you're working on a project and need to access files from multiple devices.

Google Docs editors are built into Google Drive, making it easy to collaborate with colleagues on documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.

You can view native Google documents in reader mode by replacing the /edit portion of the Google Drive file URL with /preview.

This mode is less cluttered without any menus and toolbars, making it load faster.

File access is still managed by Google Drive permissions, so if you want to share a file with someone who doesn’t have access to your Google Drive, you’ll need to change the file permissions.

Downloading Native Files can be a game-changer for anyone who needs to share files with others.

You can use a URL trick to download Google files as native files, making it easy to share them with others. This trick is particularly useful for Google Docs and Google Spreadsheets.

To download a Google Doc as a read-only PDF, you can use a specific URL trick.

The same URL trick can be used to download a Google Spreadsheet as an Excel XLS file, saving you time and effort.

By using this URL trick, you can ensure that your files are downloaded in the correct format, making it easier for others to access and use them.

You can export your Google Sheets to various formats, making it easy to share or use elsewhere. Exporting to Excel is as simple as clicking a button.

To export your Google Sheets to Excel, use the following URL format: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/YOUR_FILE_ID/export?format=xlsx. You can replace YOUR_FILE_ID with your actual file ID.

You can also export your Google Sheets to other formats, including PDF, ODS, HTML, CSV, and TSV. The available formats are:

If you want to export a specific tab, you'll need to include the gid parameter in the URL. This ensures you're exporting the correct tab.

To save local disk space, consider uninstalling Drive for Desktop and using CBackup, a professional cloud service that provides comprehensive backup and sync features.

You can upload any type of data to Google Drive with CBackup, including documents, videos, programs, and photos.

CBackup also allows you to create a Google Drive schedule upload using its Scheduler feature, so you can set up auto-sync daily, weekly, or monthly.

To get started, download the CBackup client for free and follow the easy instructions to authorize CBackup to access your Google Drive account.

Once authorized, you can create a sync task to upload files from your computer to Google Drive, selecting any folder as the sync destination.