How to Transfer Large Files Between Two Google Drive Accounts Instantly

By SaveInDrive Engineering Team • Senior Cloud Storage Specialists • ✓ Fact-Checked & Cloud Tested

Graduating from college or switching to a new Google Workspace? Here is how to transfer files between two Google Drive accounts without downloading and re-uploading.

⚡ Quick Answer for Searchers

To transfer files between two Google Drive accounts without downloading them locally, share the file or folder from Account A with Account B, copy the share link, and use SaveInDrive to stream the data directly into Account B's storage. This creates full independent file ownership in Account B without consuming Account A's quota or your local internet bandwidth.

Every year, millions of users need to migrate files between two Google accounts. Common scenarios include:

University Graduation: Your university Google account is being decommissioned, and you need to move 80GB of research, notes, and projects to your personal account.
Job Changes: Transitioning between business Workspace domains.
Storage Management: Offloading large archives from a full 15GB free tier account to a secondary storage account.

The "Make a Copy" and "Shortcut" Trap Explained

Many users try sharing a folder from Account A to Account B, right-clicking the files in Account B, and selecting "Add shortcut to Drive". This does not transfer the file!

⚠️ The Shortcut Trap: A shortcut is merely a pointer. The original file still lives in Account A. If Account A deletes the file or the account is deleted by an IT administrator, your shortcut in Account B becomes completely dead. Furthermore, Google Drive disabled the "Make a Copy" button for shared multi-gigabyte folders.

The 3 Ways to Migrate Between Google Drive Accounts

Method 1: Server-Side Cloud Stream via SaveInDrive (Recommended)

By using SaveInDrive, you can feed the shared link from Account A into the platform while logged in as Account B. The cloud engine reads the raw binary stream from Account A and writes a brand new, fully independent file into Account B. Account B now holds 100% permanent ownership, immune to anything that happens to Account A.

Method 2: Google Takeout (Slow & Clunky)

You can request an archive export via Google Takeout. However, Google splits your files into dozens of 2GB .zip parts that must be downloaded locally, extracted, and re-uploaded. If you have 100GB of data, this process takes days and requires 200GB of free hard drive space.

Method 3: Shared Drive Transfer (Workspace Accounts Only)

If either account is part of a Google Workspace business plan, create a Shared Drive. Add both Account A and Account B as managers. Drag the files into the Shared Drive from Account A, and then move them out into Account B's My Drive. Note: This method is not available on free @gmail.com personal accounts.

Comparison of Migration Methods

Method	Speed	Local Disk Space	Ownership Transfer
SaveInDrive Cloud Stream	Fast (Gigabit cloud-to-cloud)	0 GB Used	100% Independent Copy
Google Takeout	Very Slow (Days to process)	Requires 2x file size on PC	Yes, but requires manual re-upload
Drive Shortcuts	Instant	0 GB Used	No (breaks when Account A closes)

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Will transferring files count against Account B's storage quota?

Yes. Once a file is copied independently to Account B, its file size counts against Account B's Google Drive storage quota (e.g. 15GB free or 2TB Google One plan).