Starting Wednesday, October 25, you will be able to request Google Team Drives through the Google at U-M Website or the ITS Service Center.
Team Drives is a new feature of Google Drive, where teams of colleagues can access, create, store, search, and collaborate with their team-owned files. This team-based ownership model helps reduce the potential for data or access loss when individuals leave a team or even the University of Michigan. For more information, see our Google Team Drives Overview and training webinar.
Individuals can move files from their own My Drive into a Google Team Drive. Entire folders or folder structures cannot currently be migrated, due to issues uncovered during pilot testing. (Please see our Google Team Drives Pilot Update for more information.)
As with My Drive, there are several options for file management, sharing, and access levels for Team Drive members. We are currently documenting best practices in preparation for the rollout of Team Drives. You can also see how:
- Google Team Drives compare with Google My Drive.
- Google Team Drives compare with a Shared Account in U-M Google or U-M Box.
Here are a few important differences to note:
- Team members can move individual files from My Drive into a Team Drive.
- Once a file is moved from My Drive into a Team Drive, the file is removed from My Drive.
- Team members with Full Access can move files and folders from a Team Drive into their own personal My Drive, and take ownership of them.
- Files can be shared outside of the Team Drive with those who not part of the team. Folders within a Team Drive cannot be shared.
- Team Drive files shared with non-team members will appear in their “Shared with me” list. Those files cannot be added to their own personal My Drive.
The ITS Collaboration Team will continue to communicate about Team Drives to campus over the next several weeks.