Skip to main content

Create a Google Shared Drive

Anyone with a Stanford Google Workspace account can create a Google shared drive, add members, and assign permissions. You can designate a Google Group as the membership for a Shared drive. 

Files in shared drives are owned by the team rather than an individual, ensuring continuity even if a team member leaves. They provide a centralized location to organize and store files, making them easily accessible to all team members, with access permissions managed at the drive level or through Google Groups to simplify control and maintain consistency. 

Shared drives also enable seamless file sharing with multiple teams or departments without the need for individual sharing links, making them ideal for managing project-specific or team-specific files with clear organization and streamlined collaboration.

Leverage Google Group to manage shared drive

Managing shared drives using Google Groups allows for quick adjustments to who can view or edit documents, simplifying access management. 

  • Group Permissions: When you assign a specific role to the Google Group (e.g., Manager, Content Manager, Contributor, Commenter, or Viewer), all group members will inherit the same access level to the drive. Membership Management: Changes to the group’s membership will automatically update shared drive access for those users, so you won’t need to manage permissions for each individual member.

Create a Google Group

If you don’t already have a Google Group, follow instructions on the Google Groups web page to create one from an existing Stanford Workgroup. (If necessary, you can create a new Stanford Workgroup.) 

  • Allow up to 24 hours for the linked Google Group to appear on the Google Groups management site. 
  • All Workgroup administrators become owners of the new Google Group and all members of the Workgroup become members of the Google Group. 
  • Use Workgroup Manager to maintain membership for Stanford users only. You should add non-Stanford users directly to the shared drives within Google Apps.

Add the Google Group and set permissions

Create a shared new drive and assign a relevant name. In the Manage members pop-up, enter the Google Group name that was created by the Workgroup Integration tool, which will be in the format stem_workgroup@stanford.edu. 

  • Set the permission for the group as Manager. This allows members full access to upload, edit, and delete files, as well as to invite other members to the shared drive. I
  • f you want some members of the shared drive to have only Edit, Comment, or View access, create separate Workgroups and then add those groups as members with the appropriate permissions.
  •  If specific members need different permissions, they can be added directly with a different permission level, overriding the group setting.

Google resources

Google carefully documents how to create and manage shared drives.  Below are some links from Google Support that you might find useful.

Last modified