Using a Google shared Drive

Overview
Accessing a Google shared Drive
Using a shared Drive
Moving files to a shared Drive
Recovering deleted files on a shared Drive

Overview

If your department, team, or research group is using a Google shared Drive for project collaboration and file sharing, you can refer to this guide for general instructions.

Managing a shared Drive

If you need instructions for managing shared Drive members or settings, refer to the following guide:

Managing a Google shared Drive

Accessing a Google shared Drive

Go to https://usc.edu/googledrive.
If you are prompted to sign in:
1. The Shibboleth page appears. Sign in using your USC NetID and passphrase.
2. The Duo page appears. Complete the verification.
Google Drive opens. In the left menu, click Shared drives.
Double-click the shared Drive's name to open it.

Unable to access a shared Drive?

Once you are added as a member of a shared Drive, you can access any files on the shared Drive from your @usc.edu account. If you receive a "You need access" message, you might be signed into your personal Google account. The solution is to sign out of your personal account and then sign back in to your @usc.edu account.

Using a shared Drive

Member roles

As a member, you have the ability to see all files and folders in the shared Drive regardless of your role. However, your role determines the type of actions (for example, the ability to edit or upload) you can take on files in the shared Drive. The following roles are available and are assigned by the shared Drive's managers:

Viewer: Can view all files
Commenter: Can view and comment on all files
Contributor: Can add, edit, and share files; cannot move or delete files, and cannot share folders
Content manager: Can add, edit, move, delete, and share files; may be able to share folders, depending on Drive settings
Manager: Can manage files and folders, members, and Drive settings

Sharing files with non-members

Whether you are able to share files on the Drive with non-members or with people outside USC depends on:

Your member role
The shared Drive's overall settings (set by the Drive managers)

Moving files to a shared Drive

You can add files to the shared Drive by uploading them from your computer. If your files are already stored in Google Drive in your own account (also known as "My Drive"), you can transfer your files to the shared Drive. The advantages are that:

Files stored in a shared Drive are counted toward the shared Drive's storage limit rather than your own Google Drive storage limit (100 GB)
Files stored in a shared Drive are "owned" by the shared Drive, so file access is not impacted if the file creator later departs USC

Quick guide

Go to https://usc.edu/googledrive and locate the file or folder you want to transfer.
Right-click the file and select Organize > Move.
Click the All locations tab.
Select Shared drives.
Navigate to the location in the shared Drive where you want to transfer the file, and click Move.
Click Move to confirm.

Detailed guide (with screenshots)

Go to https://usc.edu/googledrive and locate the file or folder you want to transfer.
Right-click the file and select Organize > Move.
Click the All locations tab.
Select Shared drives.
Navigate to the location in the shared Drive where you want to transfer the file, and click Move.
Click Move to confirm.

Recovering deleted files on a shared Drive

Files that are deleted from a shared Drive are available in Trash for 30 days before being permanently deleted. To recover files before permanent deletion:

Quick guide

In the left menu, click Trash.
Right-click the file, and then select Restore.
If you do not see the file, make sure that you are in the shared Drive, not My Drive. In the Trash from header, click the Drive name and select a different Drive.

Detailed guide (with screenshots)

In the left menu, click Trash.
Right-click the file, and select Restore.
If you do not see the file, make sure that you are in the shared Drive, not My Drive. In the Trash from header, click the Drive name and select a different Drive.