Google Shared Drives

Owned by Christian Deadwyler
Last updated: May 07, 2024 by Michael Hill
3 min read

Service Overview

Google Workspace services, including Google Drive, are provided through EITS. For service details, limitations, and support requests, please visit EITS' informational page on Google Workspace services.

(warning) Google services are not currently approved for the storing of sensitive or restricted data and they cannot be considered for critical use cases. (See Microsoft OneDrive instead)

How to create a Shared Drive

Note: Sharing files and folders should be performed carefully to avoid providing unintentional access to institutional data.

  1. Go to http://gdrive.uga.edu and enter your MyID information. You will need Archpass to log in.

    1. If you are already signed in to a personal Google account you may end up logged in to both of your accounts at once. To make sure you're working in your UGA-affiliated account check the top right corner of the web page for the UGA logo.

  2. Click on Shared Drives from the list on the left. If you haven't been added to any drives you can create one by clicking the "Create a Shared Drive" button in the center of the page. Otherwise, right-click on Shared Drive and choose New Shared Drive. A pop up will open; enter the name of your drive in the text box and click Create.

  3. Your drive will be created and added to your list of Shared Drives. To start with only you will have access to it. To add more people click the blue Manage members link near the top of the page or right click the drive name and select "Manage Members". In the pop-up that opens you can add anyone at UGA to the drive by typing their name in the box. You can also add any departmental MyIDs. It is strongly recommended you add either another team member or a departmental MyID to the drive at this point and set their permission level to "Manager". This allows your colleagues to manage the drive in your absence. More details about the available permission levels can be found on Google's support page.

  4. Once you've added your members and assigned their permission levels the drive is ready for use. You can upload files to the drive from your computer by clicking the +New button and choosing "File upload". From there you can also create a new folder or create a new file using Google Docs, Sheets or Slides. Anyone you've added as a contributor, content manager or manager can do the same, however only content managers and managers can delete existing files.

  5.  If you would like to share a particular file with someone you can do so by right-clicking on the file and choosing "Share" from the list of options that appears. In the sharing pop-up you can type the name of anyone at UGA or the email address of anyone with a Google account in the "Add people and groups" box to grant them access to the file. If you want to share the file with someone who is not already a member of the Shared Drive please make sure that the "People who aren't shared drive members can be added to files" box is checked in your drive settings.

    You can also generate a shareable link to the file by clicking "Get link". The "add people and groups" box will disappear and you'll see the options for link sharing instead. By default only people within UGA are able to access the file using the generated link. To change that, click the down arrow next to "University of Georgia" and choose "Anyone with the link". This allow anyone on the internet to view the file if they know the link. By default people who access the file by shared link can only view the file, you can click the down arrow next to "Viewer" to allow commenting or editing instead. Please make sure to only share these links privately with trusted individuals, especially if commenting or editing are enabled.

Additional Resources

The Google Workspace Learning Center has extensive training documentation available such as:

  • Detailed guides to help you move your existing files from OneDrive, Dropbox, Box or even your local hard drive.
  • Articles written specifically for people who have never used cloud storage before
  • Detailed "Cheat Sheets" on how to use both basic Drives and Shared Drives
  • Tips for beginner, intermediate and advanced users
  • Video tutorials on how to make use of Google Drive as well as how to upload files

The EITS help desk knowledge base also has several articles available geared specifically towards UGA Google Workspace users.