Embedded Files
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Setting the appropriate permissions for your documents demonstrates the level of information transparency expected of a state institution. Correct permissions ensure the file discoverable in a search by those people who should have access, be it your team, any state employee, or the general public.
Collaborate with Shared Drives
Collaborate with Shared Drives
Shared Drives are designed for collaboration in a way that My Drives are not. Using Shared Drives as your default storage location makes for efficacious and ethical work at UDOT.
Prevent information loss
Most importantly, storing and sharing files through Shared Drives helps prevent information loss. If an employee leaves the department, anything in their My Drive disappears. Also, if they are unavailable for a period (i.e., illness, vacation), anything in their My Drive is inaccessible to others during that time.
Transparent & searchable
By default, all UDOT employees have Viewer level access to anything in a Shared Drive. Storing shared documents in Shared Drives also makes them discoverable in a Google Cloud Search, increasing access and transparency department-wide, making it easier for any UDOT employee to find what they need and request additional access to files, if needed.
More access levels
Shared drives offer more discrete levels of access than My Drive, allowing for more varied collaboration with UDOT employees and partners. This decreases the need to copy or duplicate files in multiple locations unnecessary when people have the appropriate access.
Details on levels of access are in the next section.
File integrity
Duplication of files across multiple Shared Drives, My Drives, and other locations is a significant issue for maintaining file integrity and document maintenance. Multiple files cause confusion and information loss.
Managers have the capability to protect files in a Shared Drive and restrict other user's ability to copy, forcing all users to work in one copy of the document.
As a rule of thumb, do not share documents and folders from your My Drive. If you need to share a document with a team member or other collaborator, it is best to store that file or folder in Shared Drive. Work with your team to determine when and how you want to work in My Drives or Shared Drives.
Shared Drives Access Levels
Shared Drives Access Levels
When a manager or team leader establishes who has access to Shared Drive in Google and to what degree.
Generally, the team leader will have Manager access; often one or two other team members have Manager access, too, to act as backup. Managers can add new members at the drive level and restrict the ability to copy files, thus protecting file integrity.
Depending on the nature of the work, most team members will have Content Manager or Contributor access so they can create, view, comment, and edit files, and grant non-team members access to files or folders.
How to grant or change user access to a Shared Drive (Managers only)
How to grant or change user access to a Shared Drive (Managers only)
Add new members to a Shared Drive
On your computer, go to drive.google.com. Login with your UtahID.
At the left, click Shared drives and double-click one of your shared drives.
At the top, click Manage members.
Add email addresses (utah.gov or non-State emails, for consultants).
By default, new members will be Content managers. They can upload, edit, move, or delete all files. To change permissions for a new member, click the Down arrow and choose an option (Manager, Content manager, Contributor, Commenter, Viewer).
A notification will be sent to the new member, by default. To change whether new members get notified, click Notify people.
Click Send.
Manage or remove members from a Shared Drive
On your computer, go to drive.google.com. Login with your UtahID.
At the left, click Shared drives and double-click one of your shared drives.
At the top, next to the name of your shared drive, click the Down arrow .
Click Manage Members.
To the right of the person you want to change, click the Down arrow.
Click a permission or remove > Done.
Restrict downloading, copying, printing, or sharing
On the left, click the Shared drive that contains the files you want to protect.
At the top, next to the Shared drive name, click the Down arrow > Shared drive settings.
Click Edit to set any of these permissions:
Sharing files with people outside of your organization
Sharing files with people in your organization who aren’t members of the shared drive
Allowing people with Commenter and Viewer access to download, copy, or print files
After you choose an option, click Apply.
Click Done.
Additional Links:
Store & share files or folders with Shared Drives
Additional Links: Shared Drive cheat sheet Differences between My Drive and Shared Drives
Summary of access permissions
Manager: Can manage members, and upload, edit, move, or delete all files and folders.
Content manager: By default, can upload, edit, move, or delete all files.
Contributor: Edit all files and upload new files, but can’t move or delete files.
Commenter: Can only comment on all files.
Viewer: Can only view all files.
Comprehensive access permissions in a Shared Drive
Not sure what level of access your team members, non-team members, or non-UDOT consultant should have? Contact the UDOT Google Support team to talk through the pros, cons, and options for access.
My Drive Permissions
My Drive Permissions
On occasion, you may need to share a file or folder from your My Drive, for example, for a peer review of your work before moving the final copy to a Shared Drive. Below is a table summarizing the permissions for file and folder access from your My Drive. Click here for an accessible version of this chart.
How to grant or change file or folder permissions in My Drive
How to grant or change file or folder permissions in My Drive
Share a single file
On your computer, go to drive.google.com. Login with your UtahID.
Select the file you want to share.
Click Share, in the upper right corner.
Under "Share with people and groups," enter the email address(es) you want to share with.
To change what people can do to your doc, on the right, click the Down arrow > Viewer, Commenter, or Editor.
Choose to notify people.
If you want to notify people that you shared a doc with them, check the box next to Notify people. If you notify people, each email address you enter will be included in the email.
If you don't want to notify people, uncheck the box.
Click Done.
Share a folder
On your computer, go to drive.google.com. Login with your UtahID.
Right-click the folder you want to share and choose Share from the drop down.
Under "People," type the email address(es) of the people you want to share with.
To choose how a person can use the folder, click the Down arrow > Viewer, Commenter, or Editor.
Click Done. An email is sent to people you shared with.
Additional Links:
Move a file or folder from My Drive to a Shared Drive
Move a file or folder from My Drive to a Shared Drive
Moving individual files from your My Drive to a Shared Drive is the same as moving them within a drive. Unfortunately, Google restricts the movement of folders from My Drive to Shared Drives, so that process requires extra steps. When in doubt, consult with your team leader or manager about expectations for moving entire folders.
Remember: moving a file or folder between My Drive and a Shared Drive may change access permissions. Be sure to verify access on the file or folder permissions once it is moved, and add or remove users, as needed.
Move a file from My Drive to a Shared Drive
Move a file from My Drive to a Shared Drive
Move a file from My Drive to a Shared Drive
Open a browser window and go to drive.google.com. Login with your UtahID.
Right-click the item you want to move.
Click Move to… and select the Shared Drive.
Choose or create a folder, then click Move.
Drag an item to a folder
Open a browser window and go to drive.google.com. Login with your UtahID.
Click and hold the item you want to move from your My Drive.
Drag and hover the item over the Shared Drive in the left-column navigation. This will reveal the list of folders in the Drive.
Drag and hover the item over the folder you want it in, and release it.
Additional Links:
Move a folder from My Drive to a Shared Drive
Move a folder from My Drive to a Shared Drive
Step 1: Download the folder from My Drive
Open a browser window and go to drive.google.com. Login with your UtahID.
Click the folder to download.
Right-click > click Download.
Step 2: Unzip the folder contents
Folders downloaded from Google Drive are automatically compressed (zipped). Unless the folder is being archived (see the information in Phase 1), you will want to unzip the file before re-uploading the contents to a Shared Drive.
Locate the zipped file in the Downloads section of your computer. Double-click to open.
Select all of the files you want to upload to the Shared Drive. There are two ways to select more than one file at the same time:
Press and hold the CTRL key (or Command, on a Mac) as you click individual multiple files.
To select a long list of files in order, click the first file in the list, press and hold SHIFT, then click the last file in the list.
Click Extract. Depending on your computer settings, the extracted files will either open in a new window, or be routed to your Desktop or Downloads. If you can't find your extracted files, contact
Step 3: Create a new folder in the Shared Drive
In Google Drive, on the left, click New > Folder.
Enter a name for the folder.
Click Create.
Step 4: Upload contents
In Google Drive, on the left, click New > File Upload.
Choose the extracted files you want to upload to the Shared Drive. There are two ways to select more than one file at the same time:
Press and hold the CTRL key (or Command, on a Mac) as you click individual multiple files.
To select a long list of files in order, click the first file in the list, press and hold SHIFT, then click the last file in the list.
Step 5: Delete the old folder from your My Drive - Removing duplication maintains document integrity.
Locate the former folder in your My Drive.
Right-click the folder > click Move to trash.
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