Why Can’t You Move Folders from My Drive to Shared Drive?

Whenever I move my folder from My Drive to Shared Drive. I received a message stating, “Folders can’t be moved to Shared Drive.” I don’t understand why this is happening or how to fix it.

If you are facing a similar situation to this user. Then, you don’t have to worry, I am going to help you by providing solutions to resolve this issue. In addition to that, I will also explain an alternative solution to share your Google Drive data.

The shared drive provided by Google is a collaborative space in the Google Drive. Users use this to share their important files or folders with other users within the organization. The files in the Shared drive are owned by the team or organizations, which means that if a member leaves. The files stay in the shared drive. So that other team members can share them without any issue.

Many companies create a shared drive from My Drive folders. However, you can move 10,000 total items per move, and it is restricted to moving items owned by external accounts.

Comparison of My Drive and Shared Drive

Many people are confused about My Drive and Shared Drive. So, before solving the G Drive folder error. Let’s understand the difference between them.

	My Drive	Shared Drive
Who is allowed to add files?	The owner of the My Drive	Anyone who is a member of the drive with Contributor access or higher.
Owner of the Files and Folders	The individual who created the file or folder.	The team.
Is it possible to move files and folders?	Yes, it is easy to move files and folders around in My Drive.	It depends on the access level. If you have contributor access, you can move files from My Drive to Shared Drive. If you have Content Manager access, you can move files and folders within the shared drive. And if you have Manager access, you can move files out of the shared drive or between shared drives.
How do they share data?	In My Drive, you will see different files in a folder, which depend on their access to individual files. The owner of the folder only has control access on the shared folder in My Drive.	By default, all the members of the shared drive can see all the files. Members with Manager access have control over who can see the content inside the shared drive.
Can I change the access to a folder?	Yes, the owner of the files in My Drive has control access.	Yes, a Person with Manager access, Content manager access, and the content manager to share folders can update a folder to limited access.
Can I restore files after it deleted?	Yes, if you are the owner of the file or folder.	Yes, but you must have at least Contributor access.

From these, you can see how different My Drive and Shared Folders are. But why can’t folders be moved to the Shared Drive? To find out the reasons, read the next section.

Why is Google Drive Folder Not Moving?

The reasons why the shared drive won’t accept folders can be several, which I have properly mentioned below.

• Moving the files that you don’t own or the files owned by another organization. If that is the case, then you can’t move the files.
• Google Drive allows you to move 100,000 items in one go. If you have too many files in the folder, then you cannot move to the shared drive.
• The folder cannot be moved in the desktop application. Because the Google Drive for desktop does not support this function.
• The admin can set a storage limit on the Shared Drive. So, if you couldn’t move the folder due to the Shared Drive is full, then ask the administrator.
• Google Workspace doesn’t allow you to add some virtual file types in the Shared Drive. Such as files that are linked to other files in other external systems.
• Sometimes, due to technical issues with your devices. There could be a problem with the Shared Drive and files.

These are the common reasons why you can’t move a folder from My Drive to Shared Drive. But don’t worry, I have the solutions that can help you resolve the problem.

Troubleshooting Ways to Resolve G Drive Folder Error

To quickly fix this issue, there are troubleshooting ways that you can use. I will properly explain them. So, carefully follow them.

1. Check the File Permission: One of the common reasons you can’t move My Drive to Shared Drive is that you don’t have the proper access to move the folder. Check the access level of the files in the folder by individually right-clicking the shared Drive and selecting View members. If you are not the owner of the file. Ask the person who owns the file if they permit you to move the files.
2. Move Large Items in Batch: Users can move a limited number of items in the folder. So, if you are moving batch files. Then, move them in smaller batches so that you can easily move your data without any issues.
3. Adjust Administrator Settings: If you can’t move the folders due to administrator restriction settings. Ask your admin to permit you to move their folder.
4. Remove File Types that are not Supported by Folder: Folders that contain shortcuts, shared folders inside folders, Executable files, files with restricted metadata, and Google Forms. If all these are stored in the folder. Then you can’t move them. So, either delete them or relocate them to a different folder. If you need to convert them to the Google formats, like Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides.

Here are the solutions that you could use when you are having the problem that folders can’t be moved to the shared drive. If the issue is still there. Then, I have an alternative solution to move the Google Drive folder.

Move Google Drive Folder – An Alternative Solution

If there is a problem with moving your Google Drive folder to your shared drive. Then, try to move your folder to another account using the professional software. Tools like SysTools Google Drive Migration Tool help you migrate your drive data to another account with permission. It is a simple software where you can move multiple folders at the same time.

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Final Words

In this article, I helped you fix folders that can’t be moved to the shared drive. Here, I have explained the reasons behind the problem and the troubleshooting ways that you can use to resolve the problem. Moreover, I also suggest an alternative option that you can use if the problem does not resolve.