Google Drive setup might look a bit intimidating at first. So many files and so many users, that’s a lot to handle. But don’t feel overwhelmed, we will discuss how you can get started, manage sharing, create shared team folders, and set up a drive on your computer. So, let’s get started!
Step 1: Get to Know the Basics
Google Drive is like a big storage room where your team can keep all kinds of files. Anyone in your team with a Google Drive can use it. You don’t need to make a special folder or drive for each person.
Just in case you want to learn how Google Workspace works, I’d like to refer you to this Google Workspace storage FAQ page. Apart from this, here you can learn what files you can store in Google Drive and how we can keep Google Drive secure.
Step 2: Manage Team Can Share
You can decide how much your team can share with people that are not on your team. Maybe you want only some of the folks to share stuff, or just with other teams.
As an administrator in G Suite, you have the power to determine if users will be able to share Google Drive files and folders amongst folks outside their organization. For instance, items like Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Sites project files, My Maps, folders and any additional things are kept in Drive.
Based on your version of Google Workspace, here’s what you can do: Switch external sharing on or off for all within your organization. Switching external sharing on or off for specific smaller groups. Keep link sharing in check when external sharing is enabled and Restrict access to content in shared drives for users who are outside your organization.
There are a couple of things that you should keep in mind such as, if you want more control over sharing, use trust rules to manage sharing both outside and inside your organization. To manage sharing with external users who don’t use Google, you can turn visitor sharing on or off.
Step 3: Shared Drives for Teamwork
Shared drives are like group folders in Google Drive. Here, everyone on your team can work together to build files and folders. Files in shared drives aren’t just owned by one person on your team, they’re owned by the whole team. This helps you stop files from getting lost if someone leaves your team.
Anyone in your team can make and manage shared drives. But for some teams or projects, maybe you want more control over who does what? For instance, only teachers have the right to manage drives, not the students. Here’s how you can do shared Google Drive account setup for an organization:
1. Organization Needs
How many files do you have? Are they arranged in some kind of order? Who needs access to them? Should some people not have access? Depending on the answers, you’ll need to make decisions about how to organize your shared drives and who gets access to what.
2. Set the permissions
Decide who can make shared drives. Maybe everyone can, or maybe only certain roles like managers. You also need to set what they call the default sharing rules. For example, can outsiders see files? Can files be put out with people that aren’t part of the shared drive? What are people allowed to do with the files? You also decide where new shared drives are created in your organization’s structure.
3. Create shared drives
If you want to limit shared Google Drive setup, you’ll have to do it yourself. Learn how to create shared drives, add people to them, and set what those people can do. Only the people who are specifically sharing the files can access them until you add people to the shared drive.
4. Train your users
When everything is going well, train your team to use Google Drive properly. There are various resources that can help you.
Step 4: Let Your Team Use Drive
With Google Drive for desktop, your team can connect what’s on their computer with what’s on the cloud. Start using Drive by moving their files to the cloud, Open files on their computer using the programs they’re used to, Organize Drive files on their computer without using up much space and keep specific files and folders on their computer even when they’re offline. If you want to know how exactly we can set up Drive for desktop, you can read this guide.
Final Advice!
Google Drive account setup is another thing and maintaining it throughout the entire journey is another. With enough practice, you’ll be able to do everything at a fast pace.