Google Drive Shared Drives

What Is It?

Shared drives are special folders in Google Drive that you can use to store, search, and access files with a team. Shared drive files belong to the team instead of an individual. Even if members leave, the files stay in the shared drive so your team can keep sharing information and work anywhere, from any device.

Features

• Files and folders persist after someone leaves

  UIC groups own the files in a shared drive, not an individual. When a student/faculty/staff member leaves the university and their account gets deleted the files they added or created in the shared drives remain.

• Flexible sharing

  Access to files and folders in shared drives is granted in two ways: 1) adding a user or group as a member of the shared drive, and 2) members sharing files and folders with non-members.

  1. Easy, consistent sharing for members. All members of a shared drive see the same content so you don’t have to spend time addressing sharing requests. You can add a group as a member of a shared drive. Then when a user is added to the group, Google Groups automatically adds them to all the shared drives that include that group. Members are assigned access levels, which control what they can do with files and the shared drive.
  2. Tailored sharing for non-members. Members of a shared drive can share individual files and folders with non-members. This option lets you share only what a non-member needs access to, without sharing everything in the shared drive.
      
• External people can work in your shared drives

  You can add external people to a shared drive as long as they have an email address associated with a Google account. Any content an external person contributes (for example, edits to, creating, or uploading a file) in a shared drive created by someone in your organization is transferred to and owned by your organization.

  For people whose Google Workspace edition doesn't include shared drives, you can only add them with Viewer access. However, you might be able to give them comment or edit access to specific files in the shared drive, depending on folder permissions. See How sharing a folder in a shared drive works.

• Sync shared drives to your desktop

  You can access your shared drives on your computer using Google Drive for desktop.

Requirements

Due to storage limits implemented by Google, Shared Drives have a maximum storage limit of 20 GB and each student/faculty/staff member is limited to requesting one Shared Drive. For additional storage needs, we recommend reviewing What are the cloud-based storage solutions for UIC?

Who Is Eligible To Use It?

• Students
• Faculty 
• Staff

How Much Does It Cost?

This service is funded by the university basic bundle.

Where Can I Get It?

Use the Request Google Shared Drive button on this page to submit your request.

How Can I Get Support?

If you are experiencing a problem with this service, please report it. If you just have a question, feel free to ask us.

Service Levels