What are Team Drives?
Team Drives are a shared space to store files. They can be a really great option for committees, grade level teams, department teams and any group of people that want a shared space that is not owned by one specific individual.
Important things you should know before creating a Team Drive:
- Files in Team Drives are owned by a team, not by an individual.
- All members of a Team Drive see the same content.
- When an employee leaves the organization and their accounts are deleted, their files remain in Team Drives. (This is one of the best reasons for setting up a Team Drive.)
- When you add a user to a Google Group, that user is automatically added to all the Team Drives that include that group.
- When a file is in Team Drive, it is not in your My Drive. Sharing permissions are different in Team Drive.
- When members are added to a Team Drive, the default is "full access" which means the added users can not only add, move and delete files, they can manage other users as well (including removing you as a user). Users added as editors can only edit files and add new files.
- There should be a shared understanding regarding content, file and folder organization and type of use of a Team Drive among the members who are on it. (In other words, it is best to talk about the reasons for setting up a Team Drive before actually doing it.)
- The Technology Department can add and remove users on a Team Drive when necessary.
- Non MSAD #51 users can be added to a Team Drive. (But Team Drives should not be used with parents.)
- Files and folders in Team Drive that are put in the Trash are deleted forever after 30 days.
- Students should not be included on Team Drives (for all the reasons stated above).
Interested in setting up a Team Drive for your group? Find out more here.