Google Drive gives a generous 15GB of free storage. It sounds a lot but let's remember that this space is shared by your files on Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos. So, when you run out of space on one of your Drive accounts, you can transfer files to another.

Most of us have more than one Google Drive account, but Google hasn't yet given us an easy way to transfer files from one Google Drive to another seamlessly. You have to rely on a workaround to move files from one account to another.

How to Transfer Files Between Google Drive Accounts

If you want to move files from one account to another without downloading and re-uploading them, here's what you have to do. However, if you're more concerned with how to get files from your computer to your phone, check out this list of the fastest file transfer methods between PCs and mobile devices.

1. Sharing the Document With Your Other Google Drive Account

If you just want to transfer one document over, you can do a one-off share to your other account. It doesn't require a lot of setup, and it's really easy to do.

  1. Open your primary Google Drive account.
  2. Locate the files or folders you want to move to your secondary Google Drive account.
  3. Right-click on the file or folder and select Share.
    Share button in Google Drive
  4. Type your secondary Google username. Click on Advanced. Under Sharing settings, change the permission to Is Owner. Hit the blue Send button.
  5. Log into your secondary Google Drive account. Click on the Shared with me filter on the left sidebar to quickly locate the shared folder.
  6. Google Drive won't allow you to make a copy of the folder, but you can make a copy of the files inside it and then move them into a new folder or sub-folder to replicate the hierarchy of the original.
  7. Right-click on each file (or select them all) and click on Make a copy. Rename the files appropriately and move them into a new folder.
  8. Go back to the primary account and delete the original folder from your drive and also from its bin.

You can also use Google Takeout to transfer the complete archive of your data to another account.

2. Make a "Transfer Folder" in Google Drive

The above trick is wonderful if you want to do a one-off transfer from one account to another. However, if you feel you'll want to do more transfers in the future, you can make a folder that automatically shares files placed within it amongst your Google accounts.

  1. First, make a new folder in Google Drive. You can do this by clicking New at the top-left, then clicking Folder.
    Folder setting in Google Drive
  2. Share the folder with your target account. You can do this just like how you shared a file in the above instructions.
  3. Drag a file you want to share with your other account into this folder.
  4. Google Drive will show a message asking if you want to "change who has access." This is warning you that, by moving your document into the other folder, you'll be sharing it with the other accounts that have access to the said folder. This is exactly what you want to do, so click Move.
  5. Log onto your other account, access your shared folder, and drag or move the files inside to wherever you want them to go.

Moving Your Files Easier With Google Drive

If you want to get a file from one of your Google Drive accounts to another, you need not have to download and re-upload them. By either sharing the files themselves or creating a central sharing folder, you can quickly transfer your documents to where they need to be.

If you're looking for other ways to get more out of Google Drive, there are plenty of tools out there that can help. Services like You Need a Wiki and Glide are fantastic for adding further functionality to your Google cloud storage.