Google Drive | My Drive and Shared Drives
- Eileen Galvin
- Former user (Deleted)
- Former user (Deleted)
This page outlines how to access your Google Drive storage, the ways that the storage may be used to organize and share files with colleagues and students, the differences between My Drive and Shared Drives, and some best practices for use of college data.
How do I access my Google Drive?
All CCAD students, faculty and staff have access to cloud storage using Google Drive. You can access your Google Drive by going to links.ccad.edu/drive, or by logging into your CCAD email and clicking the All Apps button at the top right of Gmail.
My Drive vs. Shared Drives
When you go to links.ccad.edu/drive and log in, you will see two storage areas in the navigation on the left—My Drive, or storage specifically housed within your account, and Shared Drives which are storage spaces not specific to any individual but rather shared group of users. You may access to multiple, one, or no Shared Drives. Shared Drives may exist to share files among members of a department, working group, or for the purpose of carrying out a specific project or business process.
If you think you should have access to a Shared Drive and don’t see it in Google Drive, ask your department head and they can grant you access.
If you want to request the creation of a new Shared Drive, fill out this request form.
How does My Drive work?
Files created in My Drive are accessible only to you until you share them with other individuals.
These files are backed up in the cloud and may be accessed from any computer with Internet access.
Files saved in Google Drive do not take up space on your computer’s local hard drive.
Files that others have shared with you will appear in the Shared With Me space.
If you can’t find a specific file you’re looking for, use the Search bar at the top.
How do Shared Drives work?
Files stored or created in Shared Drives are accessible to everyone who has access to the drive.
Shared Drives are intended for documents and reports that need to be updated and referred to on an ongoing basis by members of the same department, or two or more departments collaborating on shared projects or processes.
Files in some Shared Drives can also be shared with individuals outside of CCAD. By default however, only users within CCAD can access a Shared Drive.
If you need access to a Shared Drive, reach out to the manager of that drive. If you don’t know who the manager is or they have left CCAD, reach out to the IT Help Desk at helpdesk@ccad.edu.
How does Shared With Me work?
If other users have shared files with you from their My Drive, you will be able to access them using Shared With Me underneath My Drive and Shared Drives.
You can’t delete files from Shared With Me, because they live in someone else’s drive. However, you can right-click the file and either remove your access (warning, you can’t undo this), or create a Shortcut in your My Drive.
How does the Search bar work?
Do you ever have trouble finding that one specific file? If so, use the search bar at the top of Google Drive to search for either the name of the file, a word or number within it’s contents, or the owner of the file.
If you click the Advanced Search button at the right side of the search bar, you can narrow down your search further using one or more criteria such as a range of time that the file was created, the owner of the file, and the Location whether in a specific folder in your drive or within a Shared Drive.
Should I store files in My Drive or in a Shared Drive?
Generally speaking, you should store files in My Drive that only need to be accessed or referred to by you, and store files in Shared Drives that need to be regularly accessed or referred to by other team members. However, when considering the organization or location of files it’s a good idea to ask yourself the following questions:
Q: Am I the only one who knows how to carry out this process?
A: If so and most of your files are stored on your computer or My Drive, then you should consider storing them onto a Shared Drive instead so that other members of your team can fill in for you in case you're out sick or take vacation. Training a backup for your processes is always a good idea, and how your files are organized can make this a lot easier.
Q: These files are already stored on the H Drive. Do I really need to move them up to Google Drive?
A: Yes. The network “Department” or “H” drives reside on legacy server storage that will be removed eventually. It’s a good idea to work with others in your area to move these files up to a Google Shared Drive that is safely backed up in the cloud and accessible to everyone on your team. Moving files to Google is also an opportunity to reconsider how they are organized and to remove files that are no longer needed. In short, it accomplishes multiple goals at the same time.
Q: What happens to Google Drive files when someone leaves CCAD?
A: If the files are already in a Shared Drive, everyone else already has access to them. If the files are stored in that user’s My Drive, the supervisor can request on HR separation paperwork to have the Drive contents transferred to another user’s Drive.
Need more help?
Check out Google’s help pages about Google Drive.
What you can do with Drive - Google Workspace Learning Center