How to Create a Shared Drive in Google Workspace (and Set It Up Properly)

To create a shared drive in Google Workspace, go to drive.google.com, click Shared drives on the left, click New, enter a name and click Create. You do this in Google Drive, not the Admin console. Once shared drives are in place, Patronum can add new starters’ access and move leavers’ files into them by policy, so the structure you set up here stays tidy.

Two ways to read this guide:
– Setting up one drive for your team? Follow the steps below, then go to Add members and choose roles.
– Setting defaults for the whole organization? Read If you administer Workspace first, then the rest.

Create the shared drive

Google’s steps (Google Workspace Learning Center):

1. On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
2. On the left, click Shared drives.
3. At the top left, click New (or Create a shared drive if you don’t have one yet).
4. Enter a name for the shared drive.
5. Click Create.

In WebWisp’s own Google Workspace account (October 2026), the New shared drive dialog asked only for a name, prefilled as “Untitled shared drive,” and nothing else. Members, roles and sharing settings all come afterward.

Don’t see New, or can’t see Shared drives at all? Jump to Why can’t I create a shared drive?

Naming tip: Google doesn’t enforce a convention, so pick one now. Department – Purpose (“Finance – Payroll”) is easy to scan, and an “EXT” prefix flags drives with outside access.

If you administer Workspace, check these settings first

Defaults only reach drives created after you set them: “only new shared drives are affected” (Google Workspace Admin Help). Set them before your team creates twenty drives.

Who can create shared drives. By default, “Anyone in your organization can create a shared drive” (Google Drive Help). To change that:

1. In the Google Admin console, go to Menu > Apps > Google Workspace > Drive and Docs.
2. Click Sharing settings, then Shared drive creation.
3. Select an organizational unit or configuration group, or leave the top level selected for everyone.
4. Check Prevent users in selected-organizational-unit from creating new shared drives to block creation, or uncheck it to allow it.
5. Click Save, or Override for a child organizational unit.

You need the Drive & Docs administrator privilege. Changes can take up to 24 hours (same page).

Defaults for new shared drives. The same panel has five checkboxes:

Setting	What it controls	Our suggested default
Allow members with manager access to override the settings below	Whether drive Managers can change the rest per drive	Off for regulated teams, on for most others
Allow users outside your organization to access files in shared drives	External collaborators on shared drive files	Off, then enable per drive where needed
Allow people who aren’t shared drive members to be added to files	Sharing single files with non-members	Off, so access goes through membership
Allow content managers to share folders	Whether Content managers can share folders	Your call; off keeps folder sharing with Managers
Allow viewers and commenters to download, print, and copy files	Download, print and copy for read-only users	Off for sensitive drives

Setting labels from Google Workspace Admin Help. The suggested defaults are WebWisp’s recommendation, not Google’s. These defaults aren’t supported on Business Starter, which has had a reduced version of shared drives since September 2024 (Google Workspace Updates).

Who can move files in. Under Drive and Docs > Migration settings, Allow users to migrate files to shared drives decides whether editors can move a file into a shared drive or only its owner can (Google Workspace Admin Help).

Why can’t I create a shared drive?

You can create shared drives “only if your edition supports them and your administrator allows you to create them” (Google Workspace Learning Center). Check in this order:

1. You’re on a personal Google account. “Shared drives are only available for work or school accounts” (Google Drive Help).
2. Creation is off for your organizational unit. An admin opens Shared drive creation, selects your organizational unit and checks whether the first box is checked (Google Workspace Admin Help).
3. A configuration group says otherwise. “Group settings override organizational units” (Google Workspace Admin Help). If only some people in an organizational unit should create drives, add them to a group that’s allowed to.
4. Your license doesn’t include shared drives. An admin checks the user’s Licenses section under Directory > Users against Google’s list of supported editions.
5. The setting just changed. Allow up to 24 hours.

Add members and choose roles by the work they do

1. In Drive, open your new shared drive.
2. At the top, click Manage members.
3. Add names, email addresses or a Google Group.
4. Pick a role from the dropdown.
5. Choose whether to notify people, then click Send.

Watch step 4. “By default, new members will be Content managers” (Google Workspace Learning Center), and Content managers can move and trash files. Match the role to the work each person has to do (Google Workspace Learning Center):

If the person needs to…	Give them	Why
Add or remove members, move folders in from My Drive, delete the drive	Manager	Only Managers can do these
Reorganize: move files within the drive or put them in the trash	Content manager	Contributors can’t move or trash files
Edit Office files or PDFs through Drive for desktop	Content manager	In Drive for desktop, Contributor gives read-only access
Create and edit files, without moving or deleting anything	Contributor	Can edit and add, but can’t move or delete files
Review or reference finished work	Commenter or Viewer	Nothing changes by accident

Google itself leans generous (“If possible, give collaborators Manager or Content manager access so they aren’t limited”), so Content manager suits an active team that reorganizes often. Contributor fits when accidental deletion is the bigger risk. Either way, name at least two Managers: if a drive has none, adding and removing members is only possible from the Admin console (Google Workspace Admin Help).

Adding a Google Group saves work as people join and leave. A drive can have up to 600 direct members, up to 100 of them groups (Google Workspace Learning Center). Our guide to Google shared drive permissions covers each role in depth, and what a Google shared drive is covers the basics.

Move existing files and folders in

• Only Managers can move folders in from My Drive. Contributors and Content managers can move files, not folders (Google Workspace Learning Center).
• Ownership changes. When you move a file you created into a shared drive, “the shared drive becomes the owner of the file” (Google Workspace Learning Center).
• Other people’s files may not move, depending on the migration setting above.
• Moving folders between shared drives needs an admin. “To move folders between shared drives, contact your administrator” (Google Workspace Learning Center).

Keeping the drive current with Patronum

Access has to keep up with joiners and leavers. Two Patronum policies handle that:

• Onboarding policy, Files section: manages file access for new starters and can add a shortcut to a shared drive folder (Patronum Help Center).
• Offboarding policy, Files section: transfers a leaver’s My Drive files into a shared drive you name, recreating the folder structure (Patronum Help Center).

Both run hourly by default for users in the policy’s scope, such as an organizational unit or Google Group (Patronum Help Center). Patronum doesn’t create shared drives, so the drive must exist before a policy can point at it. See Patronum onboarding for the full options.

Setup check

Before you tell the team the drive is ready:

• [ ] Membership: the right people and groups are listed, and at least two are Managers.
• [ ] Roles: nobody is a Content manager just because it was the default.
• [ ] External access: the drive’s sharing settings match what you intended. If outsiders shouldn’t get in, try adding an external address as a member and confirm it’s blocked.
• [ ] Sample file: upload a test file, then ask a Contributor to edit it and try to move it to the trash. The edit should work and the trash should not. If downloads are off for Viewers, ask a Viewer to try downloading it.

Sources

• Google Workspace Learning Center, create a shared drive (access levels): https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9310249?hl=en
• Google Workspace Admin Help, allow users to create shared drives: https://knowledge.workspace.google.com/admin/drive/allow-users-to-create-shared-drives
• Google Drive Help, shared drives: https://support.google.com/drive/answer/7286514?hl=en
• Google Workspace Updates, Business Starter shared drives (August 2024): https://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2024/08/shared-drive-access-business-starter.html
• Google Workspace Admin Help, move your organization’s content to shared drives: https://knowledge.workspace.google.com/admin/drive/move-your-organizations-content-to-shared-drives
• Google Workspace Admin Help, troubleshoot shared drives for your users: https://knowledge.workspace.google.com/admin/drive/troubleshoot-shared-drives-for-your-users
• Google Workspace Learning Center, best practices and tips for shared drives: https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/13015138?hl=en
• Google Workspace Learning Center, shared drive limits: https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/7338880?hl=en
• Google Workspace Learning Center, add files and folders to a shared drive: https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9310154?hl=en
• Patronum Help Center, file sharing within a policy: https://help.patronum.io/en/article/setting-up-a-file-sharing-within-a-policy-nm5os8/
• Patronum Help Center, creating an offboarding policy: https://help.patronum.io/en/article/creating-an-offboarding-policy-15zeh9t/
• Patronum Help Center, when will my policy run: https://help.patronum.io/en/article/when-will-my-policy-run-13y3b4c/