7 Ways: Free Transfer Google Drive to Another Account Manually or Automatically

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• An Overview of Google Drive
• Why Transfer Google Drive to Another Account?
• 3 Automatic Ways to Move Files from One Google Drive to Another
• 4 Manual Methods to Transfer Google Drive to Another Account
• Limitations of the Manual Methods for Google Drive Transfer to Another Account
• Summary
• Further Reading

An Overview of Google Drive

Google Drive, launched on April 24, 2012, is a file storage and synchronization service created by Google. You are allowed to store & access files in the cloud, share files, and edit documents, spreadsheets, images, videos, and presentations with collaborators. It is accessible through a web browser on computers or through dedicated apps for Android and iOS mobile devices. 

Google Drive also offers search functionality and integrates with many other Google services, such as Google Docs, Sheets and Slides. As for the storage space, it provides every user with 15GB for free, which is shared across Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos. To get more storage space, you have to pay for a subscription.

See more about what you can benefit from Google Drive>>

Why Transfer Google Drive to Another Account?

As mentioned before, Google Drive offers only 15 GB of free space for its users. Although it seems more generous than other famous cloud drives such as OneDrive, Dropbox, Box, etc, this space is shared by your files on Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos. So, when you run out of space on one of your Google Drive accounts, but don't want to pay for an account upgrade, you might need to move Google Drive to another account. In addition, there are many other possible reasons why you need to do that, including:

• Make a Data Backup: If your current Google Drive account is not working well, performing a Google Drive file transfer to another account is a great way to make a backup for disaster recovery when necessary.
• Separate Personal and Work Files: If you have personal and work files stored in the same Google Drive account, you may want to transfer your personal files to another Google Drive account and keep them separate for easier management.
• Merge Google Drive Accounts: If you have registered more than one Google Drive account and want to combine them into one, you may want to transfer files from one Google Drive account to another.
• Switch from School Google Drive Account: If you are a student and will graduate from college, you need to transfer school Google Drive files to a personal account before graduation, such as some important notes or e-books.
• Change Email Addresses: If you plan to quit your current email address associated with the Google Drive account, it is also necessary to transfer your files to the new account so that you can keep the files accessible.

In this article, we will discuss how to move your data from one Google Drive account to another, either manually or automatically. So, just keep reading.

 

3 Automatic Ways to Move Files from One Google Drive to Another

First of all, we will show you the automatic ways to transfer files from one Google Drive to another, using the web-based cloud storage manager -MultCloud. It puts all the cloud storage accounts you have into one place for easy centralized management. It allows you to transfer files across cloud drives directly in one interface without downloading and uploading.

Additionally, you don't need to worry about privacy security since the authorization system of MultCloud is based on OAuth which is a standard authorization framework that enables third-party applications to access multiple cloud accounts without a username and password required. 

MultCloud is very easy to use and it won't require you to have technical knowledge. To migrate Google Drive to another account, you have to create one MultCloud account and add both accounts to MultCloud so that you can start the Google Drive data migration. Below is how to do it via its 3 different features: "Copy to", "Cloud Transfer" as well as "Share".

• Way 1: Transfer One Google Drive to Another with "Copy to"
• Way 2. Transfer all Google Drive Files to Another Account via "Cloud Transfer"
• Way 3: Transfer Files from One Google Drive to Another with "Share"

Way 1: Transfer One Google Drive to Another with "Copy to"

How to transfer Google Drive to another account using the Copy to feature? This method is mainly for the situation where the same user uses different Google Drive accounts.

4 Simple Steps to Copy Google Drive to Another Account

Step 1. Create an account first. Or you can log in with your Google or Facebook account.

Step 2. Click the "Add Cloud" button and select Google Drive from the list to add your old account. Then follow the steps to grant access to MultCloud. Use the same way to add your new Google Drive account.

Step 3. Open your old Google Drive account, and click the checkbox next to the "File Name" to select all files. Choose "Copy to" from the top menu to move files from one Google Drive to another.

Step 4. Select the second Google Drive as the destination location. Click the "OK" button to copy files from one Google Drive to another.

Way 2. Transfer all Google Drive Files to Another Account via "Cloud Transfer"

If you want to copy Google Drive folder to another account, you can make full use of "Cloud Transfer", this function is more suitable for transferring folders or whole clouds, not only files.

How to Transfer Everything from One Google Drive to Another

Step 1. Click on "Cloud Transfer" on the left side.

Step 2. In the FROM box, choose the source Google Drive while selecting the target Google Drive in the TO box.

Step 3. Then click "Transfer Now" to move all Google Drive files to another account.

Way 3: Transfer Files from One Google Drive to Another with "Share"

The above method can only transfer the data to the Google Drive account by the same user. When the two Google Drive accounts are not owned by the same person, for example, you want to share the private data in your Google Drive account with friends. In this situation, how to transfer files from one Google Drive to another easily? Don't worry, the "Share" function in MultCloud can help you complete this assignment.

Step 1. Before Google Drive file sharing, both you and your friend need to register a MultCloud account.

Step 2. After you and your friend log in to the MultCloud account, you add your own Google Drive account to your MultCloud account, and your friend adds their Google Drive account to the MultCloud account they created.

Step 3. After both parties have successfully added the Google Drive accounts, find the file want to share in your Google Drive account, right-click the file, and select "Share" in the pop-up window. Finally, choose a sharing mode you like, if it is a private file, you can choose to create a "Private Share".

Step 4. Share the above link and password with your friend. When your friend opens this link, they will be asked to enter the password you sent. Then they can select "Save to Cloud" to move Google Drive folder to another account.

4 Manual Methods to Transfer Google Drive to Another Account

Now, we would like to share you with how to transfer a Google Drive to another account manually. That is using the "Share" option in Google Drive, utilizing Google Takeout, and Google Admin console as well as downloading and re-uploading.

• Way 1: Use the "Share" Feature with Google Drive
• Way 2: Use Google Takeout for Google Drive File Transfer
• Way 3: Transfer files between Google Drive accounts via Download and Re-Upload
• Way 4. Transfer Ownership from one Google Drive to Another Account via Google Admin Console

Way 1: Use the "Share" Feature with Google Drive

If you have Google documents format only on Google Drive, then you can transfer them to your new account by the "Share" feature.

Step 1. Log in to your old Google Drive account. Select all files you want to export to another Google Drive account right-click and choose the "Share" button.

Step 2. Add your new account's email address as a collaborator. Click "Done", then you can set the read and write permissions of this account to the file.

Step 3. Click down the arrow icon and select "Editor" from the drop-down menu and click the "Send" button.

Step 4. Log in to your second account and you will find these files are placed under "Shared with me" of your account.

Way 2: Use Google Takeout for Google Drive File Transfer

If you have other file formats on Google Drive and you want to transfer these files from one Google Drive to another, you can download a copy of your data or create an archive with Google Takeout. It is a service offered by Google to help users create an archive of their data so that it can be transferred to other accounts with ease.

If you take this method, the files’ formats will be converted to another format. Once your new account has been set up, you can automatically convert all these back by adjusting your upload settings in the drive.

Step 1. Go to the official site of Google Takeout and log in to your accounts.
Step 2. Select Google Drive (the old account) to export and click on the "Next step" button.

Step 3. Select a delivery method. Here you need to select "Add to Drive" from the drop-down window. Otherwise, "Send download link via email" will be selected by default.

Step 4. Then click on "Create export" and wait for the process to complete. Then, you should first download these compressed files to the local storage, then decompress them, and finally, upload all the files to another Google Drive account.

Way 3: Transfer Files between Google Drive accounts via Download and Re-Upload

This method might be the most common one for most users, especially those who do not have enough knowledge of cloud drive management and transfer.

How to move documents from one Google Drive to another?

Step 1. Log in to your old account and create a new folder to store all files under the root directory of your Google Drive.
Step 2. Move all files to the new folder. (or you can skip the "new folder creation" process and directly select every single file one by one).
Step 3. Right-click the new folder, click the "Download" button, and wait for the process to complete.

Step 4. Log in to your new account, click the "Upload files" feature to upload that downloaded .zip file, and wait for the process to complete.

Way 4. Transfer Ownership from one Google Drive to Another Account via Google Admin Console

There is still another way for you to transfer Google Drive to another account within your organization, using the Google Admin Console. You can transfer ownership to another Google Drive account when the current owner's account is still active, then you can delete the Google Drive account because all files and folders have been transferred to another account.

Transfer All Google Drive Files to Another Account via Google Admin Console

1. Click Admin Console on the bottom left of your Google Drive admin account after logging in.

2. Select Apps > Google Workspace > Drive and Docs > Transfer ownership.

3. Enter the email address of the current owner in the "From user" field. Enter the email address of the new owner in the "To user" field.

4. Click "Transfer Files" to initiate the ownership transfer.

5. Wait for the transfer to complete, and all parties involved (the new owner, the previous owner, and the initiating admin) will receive a confirmation email.

Please be aware that transferring ownership of numerous files and folders simultaneously may require some time to reflect the changes. Then you can delete the user from Google Workspace.

Limitations of the Manual Methods for Google Drive Transfer to Another Account

The above manual methods do help you transfer Google Drive to another account, even outside the organization, but they are a bit complicated and you have to perform every step individually. Besides that, they come with the following obvious disadvantages:

Summary

Any method above can help you transfer Google Drive to another account, but some of the methods are kinda complicated and require you to perform every step individually. If you want to make it as easy as possible, MultCloud is a better choice. Transfer Google Drive to another account outside the organization or within your organization. Besides Google Drive, MultCloud supports other 30+ clouds, including Google Photos, iCloud Photos, SharePoint, G Suite, MEGA, Gmail, OneDrive, Dropbox, Flickr, Google Photos, etc.

Apart from the above-mentioned features, MultCloud provides "Cloud Backup", "Cloud Sync" and "Remote Upload" functions. "Cloud Backup" is designed to back up one cloud data to another cloud. If you want to sync two Google Drive accounts, you can make full use of "Cloud Sync". For “Remote Upload”, you can use this feature to directly download files through parsing torrent files or magnet links to cloud drives.

Further Reading: Get More Benefits from Google Drive

1. Store and organize files: Save a variety of files, including documents, spreadsheets, presentations, photos, videos, and more. What's more, you are allowed to organize your files into folders and subfolders. Or you can use labels and assign a color to a folder or a file so as to quickly identify or locate it among other files. 

2. Add an extra layer of protection to your data:  Offer encrypted and secure access to your files. Any files you receive will be proactively scanned and removed when any malware, spam, or ransomware is detected.

3. Collaborate on documents in real-time: Share files or folders with specific people or groups and give them different levels of access (view only, comment, or edit). You can see who has modified the files and supercharged the teamwork. 

4. Access files from anywhere: Just with an internet connection, you can access your files from anywhere. If you want to view your files offline, you can download the Google Drive app to your desktop or mobile device.

5. Sync Files between Computer and Google Drive: Synchronize your files and folders from computer to Google Drive, or from Google Drive to computer. Any changes you make to your files on your computer will automatically sync with your Google Drive, and vice versa.