Google Drive vs Shared Drive

When getting started with Google Drive, you may come to a fork in the road leading you to some confusion between Shared Drive and My Drive.

Shared Drive is a shared space that allows teams to store, search, and access their files anywhere from any device. Unlike My Drive, Shared Drive belongs to an entire Shared instead of an individual.

A Comparison of Team Drive and My Drive

Most notably, Shared Drive spreads ownership and usage across a team or group instead of restricting to a single person. Shared Drive gives ownership, sharing, restore rights, and longer retention for deleted items.

To simplify matters further, Google breaks it down pretty well in its support page.


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Google Team Drive vs My Drive. Check it out below:


 

Shared Drive

My Drive

What types of files can you add?

All file types* (Except Google Maps)

All file types

Who owns files and folders?

The team

The individual who created the file or folder

Can I move files and folders?

Users can only move files.

Administrators can move folders.

Yes

Can I sync files to my computer?

This depends on which sync solution you use:

  • Drive File Stream: Yes

  • Backup and Sync: No

Yes

Sharing

All team members see the same file set.

Different users might see different files in a folder, depending on their access to individual files.

How long do deleted files stay in Trash?

  • Each Team Drive has its own trash.

  • Files and folders in the Trash are deleted forever after 30 days.

  • Members can delete specific files sooner.

Files or folders in the Trash remain there until the user selects Delete Forever.



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