Google: FAQ - Permission to Move Files Request Process

University of Minnesota faculty, staff, and student employees may use the request process. People who are not employed by the University are not permitted to use this process.

People who are not employed by the University, e.g., students, can retain files by making copies of files that scheduled to be deleted.

• You will need to submit the request form which requires you to
  • write a brief description of why you want to retain the files, (e.g., These are files required to continue X research project, teaching x class, conducting x outreach, continuing x business processes, etc.
  • identify your manager
  • agree to the following terms and conditions.
    • You will only move files that have a "Deletion Pending" label
    • You will not move files owned by anyone that is still employed or enrolled at the University
    • You will consult with your manager and others with access to the files before moving them
    • Google Workspace is not approved for storage of private restricted data. If you need to retain any files with private restricted data stored in an individual's My Drive, the files should be moved to a shared drive, and then immediately moved to an appropriate storage solution
    • The Office of Information Technology will capture logs of all files moved via this process to ensure compliance.
• If your manager approves your request, you will have 14 days to move files to a shared drive.
  • Note: If you are concerned about exceeding your Google Workspace data storage limits, you may want to review options available using the University’s storage selection tool.
• After 14 days, your ability to move files will automatically be removed.
• If you need to move files after your permission has been revoked, you can submit another form.

Manager names are displayed based on PeopleSoft data. If the appropriate manager does not appear in the list that the request form displays, please complete the Technology Help request form. In the help form, indicate the appropriate manager's email address.

If your manager ...

• does not review your request, they will receive reminder notifications at 3 and 7 days. After 14 days, your request will close. You can resubmit requests as appropriate.
• denies your request, you will not be able to move files. Your options include:
  • communicate with your manager and submit another request
  • coordinate with others with whom the files you need to retain are shared to see if they have the required approval to move files
  • make a copy of the files you need to retain

The Permission to Move Files Process only permits you to move files to a Shared Drive. To learn more about the difference between Google's two storage options, see: Google Workspace: Compare Shared Drive to My Drive.

If you have editor permission for a folder you will be able to move it to a Shared Drive with its content. However, Google will first verify that you have permission to move the content of the folder. If you have permission to move at least 90% of the files within a folder it will allow you to complete the move. 

If you do not have the required permissions to move 90% the files within a folder, when you attempt to move the folder Google will display a notification with a link to download a CSV which will indicate the reason each file could not be moved.

When you move files from a Google My Drive to a Shared Drive, access and permissions remain intact even if a person with whom the file is shared does not otherwise have access to the Shared Drive.

Yes.

• UMN Google Shared Drives have a storage allocation of 100GB.
• When moving a folder, to a Shared Drive, Google will allow you to exceed the storage quota of the target shared drive if the shared drive is currently under quota.
• If you transfer data into a shared drive and as a result, the storage allocation quota is exceeded:
  • subsequent transfers will fail
  • files within the shared drive will become read only
  • you cannot create new documents in the shared drive
• When moving an individual file, Google will not allow you to exceed the storage quota of the target shared drive
• If you need additional storage allocated to your Shared Drive, submit a request to via the Technology Help support form.

Recommended Good Practice

• Check to see if the folder you intend to move will cause your shared drive to exceed its quota before you attempt to move the files. To check available storage in your shared drive, sign in and look under the storage menu item located on the left navigation. 

Yes. 

Please note: If your newly created Shared Drive won't permit you to move files into it, please refresh your browser. 

It may take up to a few days  before the "Deletion Pending" label is removed from files moved from a closed account's My Drive to a Shared Drive. After 24 hours, be sure to refresh your browser. Rest assured that all files stored in a Shared Drive will be retained.

To learn view commonly encountered issues and tips for dealing with them, visit the Google: Common Challenges When Moving Files and Folders page.

Managers are most familiar with an employees’ work, and can therefore make informed decisions about whether moving the files is appropriate and beneficial for the University’s mission of education, research, and outreach and/or for purposes of business continuity.

If you do not respond to the request (you neither approve or deny it), you will receive a reminder 3 days after submission and 7 days after submission. After 14 days the request will be closed. The employee who requested access will be notified that their request closed and that they should communicate with you before they resubmit a request.

If you deny the request, the employee will be unable to move files. The employee can make a copy of the files they need to retain. It is important to take prompt action as files will only be viewable by people with whom they are shared for 120 days after an account is closed. After 180 days, the files will be permanently deleted.

To ensure the employee's request is appropriate, you may wish to consult with your employee before granting permission.

Consider the purpose of the request 

This process is to retain files that are stored in Google Workspace accounts that are scheduled to be deleted, but are still needed to advance the University of Minnesota’s mission (research, education, and outreach) and/or to ensure business continuity. 

Does your employee's request align to this purpose?

Consider the risks associated with granting or not granting access 

There are risks associated with denying an employee's request, including

• Data loss: If you do not grant permission to move files (and/or no one else has requested permission to move the files) the files will be permanently deleted and cannot be restored.
  • Your employees only recourse is to make a copy of the file before it is deleted. When files are copied, they do not retain the original version history or comments.
• Disruption. If you grant permission to move files and your employee does not adhere to the conditions to which they agreed, this could result in disruption to research, teaching and learning, outreach or business processes. 

The conditions the requester agrees to include: 

• You will only move files that have a "Deletion Pending" label You will not move files owned by anyone that is still active at the University
• You will consult with your manager or others with access to the files before moving them
• You will move files to Google shared drives, and not to your individual My Drive or personal device 

People who request permission to move files agree not to move files owned by current faculty, staff, or students. However, it is technically possible for them to do so. If files are moved in error, the person who moved the files is responsible for addressing the issue. 

Their managers, who approve the Permission to Move Files requests, are accountable for ensuring the issue is resolved.

Resolving the issue may involve coordinating with file collaborators to restore the files to their original location or informing collaborators of the files' new location. The Office of Information Technology will not return files to their original location or manually adjust the ownership of individual documents moved through this process.