How to transfer ownership of Google Drive Files

As soon as you create any document on Google Docs, sheets, slides, drawings, maps, etc, you are the owner of that file automatically. However, if you wish to share your doc with anyone else or simply transfer ownership of Google Drive documents, you can follow the guide we have mentioned here that will help you to transfer ownership of multiple files in Google Drive and how to transfer ownership of google drive folder.

There are certain aspects that you need to know before you transfer ownership of all the documents of Google Drive. Well, make sure that you are sure before taking any steps since once you have started the process, all your files can now be edited by the new owner as well.

Moreover, you can choose to simply allow the other user to either edit, view, or comment on the files.

Let us look at how to transfer ownership of Google Drive documents to another user.

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How to transfer ownership of Google Drive

Well, if you have to transfer the files or change the ownership, the user needs to have an active Google Account.

Moreover, only a single person can have ownership of a file at a time but it can be accessed by multiple people for editing, viewing, and much more. Here is how you can transfer ownership of Google Drive to another user.

Open Google Drive from the link here.
Click on the file from Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides to transfer ownership.
Tap on Share on the top-right corner of your document.

Add people or groups you want to share files with by adding their mail id.

How to transfer ownership of Google Drive — transfer ownership of google drive files

Now, click on the down arrow beside the user’s name.
Select Make Owner.

change owner of Google Drive files — how to transfer ownership of google drive files

Click on Done.

google drive transfer ownership of all files

The ownership is now transferred from you to another user permanently. You can no longer get back the ownership anymore or even choose to delete the file from Google Drive.

Moreover, you still have the access to the file as an editor but no longer have the admin right as before.

You may also like, How to Upload Large Files to Google Drive

What file type can I change the Ownership of Google Drive?

As we have discussed the process on how you can transfer the admin rights or the ownership of your file, here are some of the formats you can try on with the same available on Google Drive.

The list below contains all the types of Google Drive files you can change the access of.

Google Docs
Google Sheets
Google Slides
Google My Maps
Google Drawings
Folders

Read: How to delete files from google drive permanently?

Can you have multiple owners on Google Drive?

Well, the answer is no. You cannot have multiple owners of files on Google Drive. However, there is an option on these documents where you can share multiple files with users and allows them to be an editor, viewer, or simply commentator on the doc

Such functions allow only partial access and not complete control as an admin through which you can even delete the document from the drive.

The same applies to Google Drive folders as well. Whether it be a single file or an entire folder, no file can have multiple owners at the same time but rather can edit the document with partial access.

Also, read, How To Password Protect Google Drive Folder.

How to transfer ownership of Google Drive Folders?

Since we have only discussed how to transfer ownership of Google Drive files or a single file, we need to know if you can do the same for Google Drive Folders.

Follow the below steps to transfer ownership of Google drive folder.

Type in the link or click here to visit Google Drive.
Look for the folder you need to change the ownership of. You can also select multiple folders at once.
Now, click on Share.
Tap on Advanced.
Select the user and tap on the down arrow beside the name.
Click “is owner”.
Now, select Done.

Once you have granted the ownership of all these folders to another user, you still have access to all the files in it and make changes to them.

All the functions remain the same unless the owner decided to delete them or make any changes that you cannot reverse.

This is how we can transfer ownership of google drive folder.

Read: How to Block Someone on Google Drive

What happens if I delete a shared file in Google Drive?

If you are planning to delete a file on Google Drive permanently, it will be deleted for all the other collaborators as well with whom you have share it.

Also, once you have transferred the ownership, you can no longer have the access to delete the file for everyone so make sure you are perfectly clear before taking the step.

Furthermore, it is better to make someone else the owner and then delete the file from your drive.

Read How to Print from Google Drive on iPhone

How to change ownership of Google Meet?

You can also change the ownership of a meeting on Google Meet if you no longer are available to be a part of it.

Once you change the ownership, the concerned user will be able to make the changes to the meeting as they want. Here are the steps you can follow.

Open Google Calendar on your smartphone or simply your laptop.
Select the event or the meeting you need to transfer or change the ownership of.

How to change ownership of Google Meet — change ownership of Google Meet

Now, tap on More.
Click on Change Owner.

how to transfer ownership of folder in google drive — change ownership of Google Meet

Now, enter the email id of the user to transfer ownership.
Tap on Change Owner to save the setting.

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Conclusion

Well, here we have everything you need to know on how to transfer ownership of Google Drive files such as docs, sheets, presentations, and other files.

In fact, you can even transfer ownership of folders too on your Google Drive to different users. If you have multiple folders make sure to select them all at once and then move on with changing the ownership rather than doing it one by one.

However, only a single person can be the owner of the documents at once and all the others work as simply collaborators as designated by the owner. You can either be an editor, viewer, or simply a commentator.

Moving on, if you feel you are stuck with an error while transferring files, you can let us know in the comment section so that we can fix it for you. This article helps below queries:

Google drive transfer ownership
How to transfer ownership of google drive folder
Google drive transfer ownership of all files

Shirley

Hello, my name is Shirley. I’m a Google Drive expert and have been working with the platform since it launched. I’ve written extensively about Google Drive tips and tricks, and have created numerous tutorials on how to get the most out of the platform. I also enjoy creating tutorials to help people learn how to use Drive like pros. Read more