⚡ Productivity
Google Shared Drives Migration Planner for Small Teams: My Drive Folder Audit, Shared Drive Taxonomy by Access Boundary, Manager to Viewer Role Map with Groups, External Sharing Settings, Ownership Fixes, and a Cutover Checklist
Move a team's files out of one person's My Drive into Google Workspace shared drives without breaking links or losing access: audit who owns what, design shared drives around who needs access instead of around projects, map Manager, Content manager, Contributor, Commenter, and Viewer roles to Google Groups, set external sharing per drive, fix ownership before the move, and run a clean cutover.
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Prompt
Act as a Google Workspace administrator for small firms who has moved dozens of teams from a founder's My Drive into shared drives, and has seen what happens when a departed employee's account is deleted while it still owns half the client folders. Inputs: - Current folder tree, who owns the top folders, and rough file counts: [DriveInventory] - People and roles: who does what, partners or managers, contractors, seasonal staff: [TeamRoles] - What must be shared outside the company (clients, vendors, auditors) and how today: [SharingNeeds] - Workspace edition and any admin settings you know about: [WorkspaceEdition] - Deadlines, busy seasons, and when a freeze is possible: [Timeline] - Output format: [Format] Generate: 1. An ownership audit plan for DriveInventory: how to list files owned by people outside the company or by suspended or departing users, and which owners must transfer files (or have an admin run a data transfer in the Admin console) before anything moves. Files you do not own cannot be moved into a shared drive by you. 2. A shared drive taxonomy built on access boundaries: one shared drive per group of people who should see the same things (for example a partners only drive), with folders inside for projects or clients. Explain that access in a shared drive is inherited downward, so a sensitive folder inside a broad drive is a design smell; mark folder level restrictions as "check whether your edition supports limited access folders". 3. A role map table from TeamRoles: for each drive, which Google Group gets Manager, Content manager, Contributor, Commenter, or Viewer, and why. Contributors can add and edit but cannot move or delete; Content managers can move and delete; Managers control membership and settings. Use groups, not individual members, so onboarding and offboarding happen in one place. 4. Drive settings per shared drive from SharingNeeds: allow or block people outside the organization, allow or block access for non members, and whether viewers and commenters can download, print, and copy. Propose a separate client exchange drive when external sharing is needed so internal drives stay closed. 5. A move plan: order of moves (small, low risk folders first), who performs each move, the admin setting that may be needed to let users move folders, and a note that moved files keep their links while sharing from the old location is replaced by drive membership. 6. Limits to check before the move, such as items per shared drive and folder depth, marked "confirm current limits in Google's help center". 7. A cutover checklist with a freeze window from Timeline, a link test on ten real files, a desktop sync check for Drive for desktop users, and a message to the team explaining where things live now. 8. An offboarding rule going forward: remove the person from groups, and files they created in shared drives stay with the organization. Constraints: - Do not invent admin console paths you cannot confirm; describe the setting and mark it "find in Admin console". - Never recommend sharing a whole drive with "anyone with the link". No em dashes.
Instructions
Replace every [bracket] with your details before running. Works on ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.
Generated Output
This image was generated using the prompt above.

Examples
Example Input
DriveInventory: founder's My Drive has "Clients" (about 140 client subfolders, roughly 9,000 files), "Firm Admin" (HR, payroll, contracts), "Templates"; about 30 percent of client files are owned by a former staff accountant whose account is suspended TeamRoles: 2 partners, 3 staff accountants, 1 office admin, 2 seasonal preparers from January to April SharingNeeds: clients upload tax documents into their own folder through a shared link today; payroll must be partners only WorkspaceEdition: Business Standard, the office admin is the only super admin Timeline: tax season starts January 15; a freeze is possible the weekend of December 12 Format: plan with tables and checklist
Example Output
1) OWNERSHIP AUDIT - In Drive search, filter the Clients folder by owner and export the list of files not owned by the founder. - The former staff accountant owns about 2,700 client files. Before the account is ever deleted, the office admin runs a data transfer in the Admin console from that user to the founder. Find in Admin console under the user's account. - Spot check 20 transferred files to confirm the founder is now the owner. 2) SHARED DRIVE TAXONOMY | Shared drive | Contents | Why separate | | Clients Internal | 140 client folders, workpapers | Everyone on staff works here | | Client Exchange | One upload folder per client | Only drive open to outside people | | Firm Admin Partners | HR, payroll, contracts | Partners only, never inherited by staff | | Templates and Ops | Templates, checklists | Read only for most people | Payroll stays out of Clients Internal because access inherits down the tree. 3) ROLE MAP | Drive | Group | Role | | Clients Internal | partners@ | Manager | | Clients Internal | staff@ | Content manager | | Clients Internal | seasonal@ | Contributor (can add and edit, cannot move or delete) | | Client Exchange | staff@ | Content manager | | Firm Admin Partners | partners@ | Manager | | Templates and Ops | admin@ | Manager | | Templates and Ops | everyone@ | Viewer | Seasonal preparers join seasonal@ on January 2 and leave it on April 30. 4) SETTINGS - Clients Internal, Firm Admin Partners, Templates and Ops: block people outside the organization; block non members; viewers and commenters cannot download, print, or copy on Firm Admin Partners. - Client Exchange: allow outside access so each client folder can be shared with that client's email only. Never use "anyone with the link". 5) MOVE PLAN - Dec 12, morning: Templates (small, low risk), moved by the founder. - Dec 12, afternoon: Firm Admin into Firm Admin Partners. - Dec 13: Clients in batches of 20 folders; upload subfolders go to Client Exchange. - The admin may need to enable folder moves into shared drives for users. Find in Admin console under Drive sharing settings. - Links to moved files keep working. Old direct shares are replaced by drive membership, so recheck each client's access to their exchange folder. 6) LIMITS TO CHECK Items per shared drive and folder nesting depth. 9,000 files is well inside typical limits, but confirm current limits in Google's help center. 7) CUTOVER CHECKLIST [ ] Freeze announced for Dec 12 to 13 [ ] Ownership transfer verified [ ] Ten real file links opened by a staff account and a client test account [ ] Drive for desktop users see shared drives and old My Drive shortcuts are removed [ ] Team note sent: "Client work lives in Clients Internal. Client uploads live in Client Exchange." 8) OFFBOARDING RULE Remove the person from all groups on their last day. Files they made in shared drives stay with the firm, so no transfer is needed for those.