How To Transfer Ownership In Google Docs

There are three types of users in Google Drive: Owner, Editor, and Viewer. Though many users are able to edit and view a single document, there can only be one Owner at a time. Here are two ways in which you can transfer ownership of Google Docs in the Drive.

Transfer Ownership of Single Documents in Google Drive

  1. If you are an Owner, you can easily change the ownership of individual documents and folders in Drive.
  2. Go to Drive or a Docs, Sheets, or Slides home page.
  3. In a Docs, Sheets, or Slides home page: Open the file and click Share in the top-right corner of the file.
  4. Type the email address of the new owner in the “Invite people” field. Click Share & save.
  5. Click Advanced in the bottom-right corner of the sharing box.
  6. Click the drop-down menu next to the name of the person you want to own the file or folder.
  7. Select “Is owner”. Click Done.

Transfer Ownership of All Documents in Google Drive

If you are an Administrator, you can transfer ownership of all documents in the Drive from one user in your domain to another. Being able to transfer the ownership of all documents can be useful if the original owner is leaving the organization. Once a user leaves the domain, their documents cannot be transferred. If this happens, Administrators are able to restore the account for five days and transfer the documents that way.

  1. Sign-in to the Google Admin console.
  2. Go to Apps > Google Apps > Drive.
  3. Click Transfer ownership.
  4. Complete the Document ownership transfer section:
  5. In the From field, enter the username of the current owner and select the user’s domain.
  6. In the To field, enter the username of the new owner and select the user’s domain.
  7. Click Transfer documents to save.

The newly transferred documents are then automatically organized in a single new folder, titled with the previous owner’s email address, in the new owner’s Drive. The original owner will still maintain editing privileges until their account is deleted or their edit permissions are revoked. Unfortunately, the Admin Console does not provide a way to change document owners, collaborators, and sharing settings individually or in bulk.