Hey everyone, are you using Google Drive?
It’s one of the core services in Google Workspace, right alongside Gmail and Google Calendar.
Google Workspace is built for everyone—from IT pros to everyday users—so the user interface (UI) is designed to be intuitive and easy to use. I’ve personally been using Google Drive for over ten years without anyone ever teaching me how.
But when I took on the role of a Google Workspace Admin, I realized something troubling:
The very features that make Google Drive "easy to use" were also the source of a lot of potential issues.
Recently, I had a chance to investigate and organize our team's use of Google Drive.
This article shares what I learned—especially for non-IT folks—about what can easily go wrong and why.
So, What Is Google Workspace Anyway?
Chances are, you already have a personal Google account.
Once you have one, you get access to many powerful tools: Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Maps, Google Docs, Google Meet—you name it.
According to Gemini, as of May 2025, Gmail alone has over 1.8 billion active users.
Google Workspace takes these tools and packages them for business use.
It allows organizations to manage things centrally—like using custom domains, setting up user accounts, and controlling security policies.
In short, it’s like renting a fully-equipped virtual office.
If you compare it to a physical office, everything starts to make more sense.
| Tool | Function | In a Physical Office |
|---|---|---|
| Custom Domain | Set up emails like user@yourdomain.com | Company nameplate or office signage |
| Gmail | Send and receive emails | Your desk mailbox (internal and external messages) |
| Drive | Store and share files | Filing cabinet for documents |
| Meet | Online meetings | Conference room or phone meeting |
| Calendar | Schedule events and meetings | Room booking board or whiteboard planner |
| Groups | Mailing lists | Department contact list or circular board |
| Docs | Create documents | Meeting notes on a whiteboard or shared notebook |
| Chat | Team text communication | Hallway chats, memos, or sticky notes |
| User Management | Create/delete accounts, assign permissions | Staff roster or building access management |
| Admin Console | Policy settings, security, audit logs | Security system and master key control panel |
With Google Workspace, your organization gets all essential office functions—bundled in one place.
It’s super convenient and designed to make management smoother.
So, Where Do You Store Your Files?
Now, let’s focus on today’s topic: Google Drive.
Think of it as your digital filing cabinet. When you have lots of documents, you need a good place to organize them.
Here’s the catch: there are actually two kinds of cabinets—one for individuals and one for the organization.
The personal one is called My Drive, and the shared one is called Shared Drives.
If you’re using a regular Google account (not a Workspace account), you won’t see Shared Drives.
It’s a feature unique to Google Workspace.
To use a real office analogy:
- Shared Drives are like open shelves in a common room that everyone can access.
- My Drive is like the drawer next to your own desk—your personal storage.
My Drive is basically your private space.
If you want to share files, you need to manually choose who can access them—specific users or groups.
Even administrators can’t just peek into someone’s My Drive.
They’d need special tools and a good reason (like an audit).
It’s like having a locked drawer at your desk.
Even your boss wouldn’t open it without a master key—and that’s only for serious cases.
Shared Drives, on the other hand, also have access controls—based on roles and targets.
Roles
- Viewer: Can only view (download/print can be restricted)
- Commenter: Can comment but not edit
- Editor: Can edit, reshare, and delete
- Content Manager: Can edit and organize within the Shared Drive
- Manager: Full control, including member management
Targets
- Specific users (via email)
- Google Groups (like
team@yourdomain.com) - All users in the domain (anyone with
@yourdomain.com) - Anyone with the link (higher security risk)
Actually, both My Drive and Shared Drives allow you to store and share files.
But the flow of control is different.
Pattern 1: Store in My Drive
- Share only when needed
- Starts narrow → expands
Pattern 2: Store in Shared Drive
- Restrict access only when needed
- Starts wide → narrows down
The Big Difference: File Ownership
Here’s the key: Who owns the file?
- Files in My Drive are owned by the individual.
- Files in Shared Drives are owned by the organization.
If a user leaves the company and their account is deleted,
everything in their My Drive disappears—even shared files.
It’s like tossing out a former employee’s entire desk.
On the other hand, files in Shared Drives remain safe—even when users leave the organization.
This kind of structure makes file ownership and collaboration clearer.
- In-progress work and personal to-do lists → store in My Drive
- Files meant to be shared with your team or org → store in Shared Drives
Sounds simple, right?
But in real-world usage, things often get messy.
Another Google Drive feature—the “Shared with me” list—often leads things in the wrong direction.
The Problem with “Shared with Me”
The “Shared with me” section exists in both personal and Workspace accounts.
It shows a list of files and folders others have shared with you.
For personal accounts, it kind of makes sense:
- Your stuff = My Drive
- Other people’s stuff = Shared with me
But here’s the catch:
This list is just a notification box showing newly shared links.
There’s no folder structure, no organization—just a time-ordered feed.
And you can’t rename, reorder, or delete anything from it.
So what happens?
People want control.
They want to tidy things up.
So, naturally, they right-click the file...
...and then a menu appears:
Download, Make a copy, Add shortcut, and Add to starred—all seemingly useful for organizing files.
Here’s what each does:
| Function | Description | Relation to Original File | Organizing Style |
|---|---|---|---|
| Download | Saves a copy to your computer. Good for offline use or archiving. | No longer connected | Local storage |
| Make a copy | Saves a new file to your My Drive. Freely editable and shareable. | No longer connected | Personal reuse or resharing |
| Add shortcut | Adds a link to the original file in your My Drive. Can be placed in folders. | Still linked | Custom folder organization |
| Add to starred | Marks the file with a star for quick access. Flat list, no folder structure. | Still linked | Bookmark-style, searchable view |
Why This Matters for Admins
From an admin’s perspective, when users want to organize shared files, the best practice is:
Use “Add shortcut” or “Add to starred”.
These keep the file structure intact and avoid unnecessary duplicates.
But here’s the catch...
These two options don’t appear right away in the right-click menu.
To find them, users must go deeper—through the “Organize” submenu.
As a result, people often just choose “Make a copy” or “Download”,
which breaks the connection to the original and creates version chaos.
Because these options aren’t shown clearly or intuitively, many users end up clicking “Make a copy” by mistake.
The result?
You end up with dozens of files like:
“Copy of…”
“Copy of Copy of…”
This breaks the benefits of cloud collaboration:
- There’s no single source of truth
- Files get out of sync
- People don’t know which version is the latest
The Strange Case of Shared Accounts
In our organization, we used to share the My Drive of a special account called SharedDrive@... as a workaround for Shared Drives.
Why?
Before March 2017, Shared Drives didn’t exist.
The only way to share files across a team was to use someone’s My Drive as a shared hub.
This workaround had some serious problems:
- If the account was deleted, all files disappeared
- File ownership was personal, not organizational
- Centralized control by admins was nearly impossible
At the time, it was a practical—but imperfect—solution.
But today, Shared Drives are the much safer and more manageable solution.
Recommended Best Practices
Google Drive is incredibly useful,
but if used carelessly, it can cause:
- Lost files
- Confusion about ownership
- Bad handovers
As admins, here’s how we define each space:
- My Drive → for temporary personal work
- Shared Drives → for official, shared documents
- Shared with me → just a notification list, not a workspace
Our Organizational Guidelines
Store important files in Shared Drives
For any document meant to be reused by the team.Use My Drive as a personal sandbox
Drafts, notes, and temporary files only.
Move finished work to a Shared Drive.Don’t rely too much on “Shared with me”
Use shortcuts or stars to organize what you need.Use stars for quick access
Especially useful when you don’t need folder structure.
If your organization has experienced any of these issues,
I strongly recommend shifting to Shared Drives and setting clear usage rules.
Yes, it takes some effort at first—but in the long run,
you’ll gain clarity, control, and peace of mind in your file management.
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