{"id":8772,"date":"2023-11-07T11:08:37","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T11:08:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gatlabs.com\/knowledge\/?post_type=docs&p=8772"},"modified":"2025-08-08T16:33:06","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T15:33:06","password":"","slug":"transfer-ownership-of-my-drive-folder-with-gat-flow","status":"publish","type":"docs","link":"https:\/\/gatlabs.com\/knowledge\/tech-tips\/transfer-ownership-of-my-drive-folder-with-gat-flow\/","title":{"rendered":"Transfer Ownership of \u2018My Drive\u2019 Folder with GAT Flow"},"content":{"rendered":"

Transfer Ownership of \u2018My Drive\u2019 Folder with GAT Flow<\/h2>\n

Transferring ownership of files and folders in<\/span> Google Drive<\/span><\/a> is a common task for <\/span>Google Workspace<\/span><\/a> administrators, especially during offboarding.<\/span><\/p>\n

But what about the unique \u2018My Drive\u2019 folder? Here\u2019s how GAT Flow can help.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Problem<\/b><\/h3>\n

Due to the nature of Google Drive, each user can only have a single My Drive folder.<\/span><\/p>\n

A user\u2019s My Drive folder is a special folder that can\u2019t have any level of access assigned to another user, under normal circumstances. You can\u2019t allow a user to have viewer, contributor, or commentor access to another user\u2019s My Drive folder.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, GAT Flow can allow the admin to transfer ownership of this folder, along with everything inside, to another user.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Solution<\/b><\/h3>\n

In GAT Flow, Select \u2018Create workflow\u2019<\/strong>, give it a name, set the type to \u2018Modify\u2019<\/strong>, and click next.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Choose the user whose My Drive you want to change ownership of, and click \u2018Proceed to actions\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Click the \u2018+\u2019<\/strong> icon and select the \u2018Google application data transfer\u2019<\/strong> action.<\/span><\/p>\n

Select \u2018Drive and Docs\u2019. You will see a checkbox that says \u2018Include private files\u2019. This is checked by default and will give you the option to omit the files that have not been shared with anyone. If you aren\u2019t interested in transferring those, you can uncheck this box.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Choose who you want the new owner to be by selecting them in the \u2018Transfer to\u2019<\/strong> field.<\/span><\/p>\n

When you are finished, click \u2018Send approval request\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Once approved by the Security Officer, the workflow will run, and the folder will be transferred to the new owner.<\/span><\/p>\n

The new owner will see a new folder in the root of their My Drive labeled \u2018OldOwner@yourdomain.com\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

The old owner\u2019s folder tree structure is kept as it was for the new owner during this process.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is good practice to transfer ownership of a user\u2019s My Drive as part of your offboarding process. If you delete a user from your domain, their files will be deleted too. If you archive a user, their files will remain with them, so this method can prove useful in that scenario.<\/span><\/p>\n

NOTE: The Drive transfer CAN be performed on a suspended user’s account.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Result for user<\/h3>\n

The affected users whose Data was transferred “from” and “to” – both will receive an automated email from Google.<\/p>\n

\"automated<\/p>\n

In Google Drive, the users whose data was “migrated to” will be available in their My Drive.<\/p>\n

It will have the email address of the user from whom the data was transferred. All files and folders from the original owner will be available in the folder created under the new owner.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Existing permissions<\/h4>\n

The My Drive files and folders that were transferred will have a new owner<\/strong>, and the original owner will become an Editor to the files.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The other existing permissions will remain the same. The files shared with additional users as it was before, it will still be shared, but the owner will be different and the original owner will be editor.<\/p>\n

Important Notes<\/b><\/h2>\n

This is the only way to transfer a user\u2019s My Drive folder. This cannot normally be achieved by the end-user from Google Drive.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you try to change the ownership of a My Drive folder using GAT+, you will encounter an error, and the folder will not be transferred.<\/span><\/p>\n

The old owner will become a contributor to the files, and they will still be available in the old owner\u2019s \u2018Shared with me\u2019 section in Google Drive<\/span><\/p>\n

This option will not transfer any files that the old owner had access to that were in the \u2018Shared with me\u2019 section of Google Drive, nor will it give the new owner access to the files that have been shared with the old owner by another user.<\/span><\/p>\n

If the old user had a shortcut to a file that the new owner does not have access to, the shortcut will be transferred, but the new owner will still need to request access to the file.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is important to note that if you use this method as part of a \u2018Modify\u2019 workflow, the user who had their files transferred will not be deleted after the action has run.<\/span><\/p>\n

If the user has Looker Files, ensure that you transfer those by selecting Looker Files in the \u2018Application\u2019 field.<\/span><\/p>\n

Related posts<\/b><\/h2>\n

How to Transfer Ownership of Google Drive Files<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Transfer Files ownership of a suspended user<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Transfer Ownership of \u2018My Drive\u2019 Folder with GAT Flow Transferring ownership of files and folders in Google Drive is a common task for Google Workspace administrators, especially during offboarding. But what about the unique \u2018My Drive\u2019 folder? Here\u2019s how GAT Flow can help. The Problem Due to the nature of Google Drive, each user can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8807,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"doc_category":[21],"glossaries":[],"doc_tag":[27],"class_list":["post-8772","docs","type-docs","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","doc_category-drive-management","doc_tag-gat-flow"],"year_month":"2026-04","word_count":742,"total_views":"1583","reactions":{"happy":"1","normal":"0","sad":"0"},"author_info":{"name":"Enrique Gomez","author_nicename":"egomez","author_url":"https:\/\/gatlabs.com\/knowledge\/author\/egomez\/"},"doc_category_info":[{"term_name":"Drive Audit & Management","term_url":"https:\/\/gatlabs.com\/knowledge\/tech-tips-category\/drive-management\/"}],"doc_tag_info":[{"term_name":"GAT Flow","term_url":"https:\/\/gatlabs.com\/knowledge\/tech-tips-tag\/gat-flow\/"}],"yoast_head":"\nTransfer Ownership of \u2018My Drive\u2019 Folder with GAT Flow - GAT Knowledge Base<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Efficiently handle Ownership Transfer of My Drive using GAT Flow. 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