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Google Drive: Using Shared Drives
This article covers instructions for using the web version of Google Drive. Be aware that other versions, such as the mobile app, will vary in functionality.
Shared Drives are collaborative spaces for teams to store and access shared content. Files uploaded to a Shared Drive belong to the entire team instead of a specific user. This means that if a user uploads a file to a Shared Drive and later leaves the drive, the file will remain.
Expand each section below to see its content.
To create a new Shared Drive:
- Navigate to drive.google.com. Ensure you’re logged in with your PLU ePass.
- Click “Shared Drives” from the column to the left. A list of Shared Drives that you currently have access to, if any, will display.
- Click “New” to the top-left. A new pop-up will appear.
- Enter a name for the Shared Drive.
- Click “Create.” The new Shared Drive will be added to the list of available drives and will automatically open.
To add members to a Shared Drive:
- Click “Shared Drives” from the column to the left.
- Locate and open the desired Shared Drive.
- Click “Manage Members” to the top-right.
- Enter the emails of the members to add.
- We recommend adding members of different access levels separately.
- Viewer: view files only.
- Commenter: view files and add comments.
- Contributor: upload and edit files.
- Content Manager: upload, edit, move, and delete files.
- Manager: manage content, users, and drive settings.
To adjust access levels of members at any time, click “Manage Members” to the top-right. "Manage Members" only appears to drive Managers.
To upload a file to a Shared Drive:
- Click “Shared Drives” from the column to the left.
- Locate and open the desired Shared Drive.
- Click “New” to the top-left, and select “File Upload.”
- Locate and select the desired file.
- To select multiple files, hold the Shift key.
Alternatively, click-and-drag files/folders from the computer desktop into the Google Drive window to upload.
Do not close the web browser, navigate away from Google Drive, or disconnect from the internet during the upload process. When uploading is complete, a green checkmark next to the file will appear in the upload pop-up.
Uploading a file with the same name as an existing file will replace it. To see the previous version of that file, click “Manage Version” in the upload pop-up.
To create a new folder, click “New” to the top-left and select “Folder.”
All files and folders in a Shared Drive are automatically accessible to members of a Drive. Files can also be shared with non-members as usual (see Google Drive: Sharing Files & Folders for more details).
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