As other users clean up their Google Drive contents, you may lose access to Shared with me files and folders. To ensure that you retain access to files you care about before they are removed/deleted by others, follow the steps laid out in this guide. The best solution is to work with file owners/managers and determine whether you need to make your own copy of a file.

Notes on Shared with me Files:

• The files are owned either by others, or by shared drives.
• Users are being instructed to delete unneeded files quickly. It is easy for files shared with you to be deleted without your knowledge.
• If another user deletes the file or drive, you currently have no recourse.

Before You Start: (Do Not Skip!)

If you are unconcerned with possibly losing access to your Shared With Me files, you can skip this tutorial.

Step 1 - Login and Access Your 'Shared with me' Files:

1. Log in to Google Drive and select the Shared with me tab in the lefthand column.
2. You should see a list of all folders and files that have been shared with you.

If there are NO files or folders listed under Shared with me you can stop the tutorial here.

Step 2 - Backing Up Individual Files

If you have been unable to communicate with the owners, files in your Shared with me list that are NOT nested within shared folders may be backed up using this method:

1. Navigate to the file that you want to keep and click on the 3 dots icon beside it that indicates more actions.

2. Select Make a copy from the pop-up menu. A copy will be saved to your My Drive. *^Note

3. Repeat these steps for each important file in your Shared with me list.
4. Once you have successfully moved all important files into your My Drive, clean and organize them however you would like. 

*If you have write access to the the shared drive containing the file you are trying to copy, the copy will go into that folder instead of your My Drive. Should this happen, you can download the file and reupload it to your My Drive. This behavior seems illogical and if you have trouble we recommend contacting your IT staff.

Step 3 - Backing Up Files within Shared Folders

If you have been unable to work something out with the owners, files in your Shared with me list that are nested within shared folders should be backed up using this method:

1. Navigate to a Shared with me folder and open it so that you can see the individual files nested within.

2. For each file that you want to keep, click the 3 dots icon beside it and select Make a copy.

NOTE: Do not select Move before you make a copy of the file. It may appear that you can move a file directly to your My Drive, bypassing this step, but it may remove access for others using the file. 

3. If you do not have editor permission for the folder, when you select Make a copy, the copied file will automatically move to your My Drive.
4. If you are an editor: The copied file will appear in the Shared folder. Select the 3 dots icon beside the COPIED file.

5. In the 3 dots pop-up menu, roll your mouse over the Organize option to bring up more options, and select Move.

6. Select your My Drive from the pop-up window, and click Move.

7. A warning may appear, reminding you that others with access to this shared folder will lose access to this copy when you move it. Select Move.

8. A pop-up notification will appear in the lower left corner of your window, letting you know that the copied file has been successfully moved.

9. Navigate to the copied file in your My Drive list to make sure that the move was successful.

10. Repeat these steps for all important files nested in folders shared with you.
11. Once you have successfully moved all important files into your My Drive, clean and organize them however you would like. 

STEP 4 - If all else fails, you can download a file, and reupload it to your own My Drive

When someone shares a folder with you from a Shared Drive, you may not be able to move it as instructed above. If you do not have manager permissions for the folder as designated by the sharer, the option to move copied files from your Shared with me folder into your My Drive will be grayed out.

You can see if a folder that has been shared is from a Shared Drive if this icon appears beside it in your Shared with me list:

In this case, you can download the file and reupload it to your own My Drive. (This should only be done if moving the file doesn’t work.)

To download a file from a Shared with me folder:

1. Navigate to the (Shared Drive designated:) Shared with me folder and open it so that you can see the individual files nested within.
2. For each file that you want to keep, click the 3 dots icon beside it and select Download.

3. Be sure to navigate back to your My Drive tab before reuploading your file. If you don’t, you will just upload it back into the Shared folder.

4. Click on the New option in the upper left portion of your Drive page, then select File upload from the pop-up menu.

5. A file explorer window will open. Navigate to your recent downloads (the window should open to this automatically), click on the file you want to upload, then select Open.

6. A pop-up notification will appear in the lower right corner of your Drive window, letting you know that an upload is in progress. It will let you know when the upload has successfully completed.

7. Click the link in the pop-up window, or navigate to the file in your My Drive list to make sure that the file has uploaded successfully.

8. Repeat these steps as needed.
9. Once you have successfully moved all important files into your My Drive, clean and organize them however you would like.