Drive FAQ
Answers to common setup and operating questions about Drive.
For what the app is and how to set it up from scratch, see the
Drive Overview.
Setup
Does Drive need any configuration before people can use it?
No. Once a business admin enables Drive from Admin → Apps → All Apps, every user gets a personal “My Drive” automatically the first time they open the app, and every workspace gets its own Shared Drive. Versioning and notifications are on by default. Two settings are worth reviewing early:
- Embed file contents for AI search is off by default. Turn it on if you want people to search inside documents and the Drive Help assistant to summarize files or find one by description. While it is on, file contents are sent to an embedding provider.
- Allow external share links is on by default. If your policy forbids sending files outside the organization, turn it off before people start making share links. It does not stop file requests, which let someone outside upload into a folder; limit those under Who can request files from outside the organization?, or switch Drive File Requests off in the Portals catalog.
Who can manage Drive settings, branding, and analytics?
Business admins (admin or above) and anyone you have added as a Drive App Admin. Both roles see the Admin section in the left sidebar with Branding, Analytics, and Settings.
Permissions and access
What sharing roles exist, and what can each one do?
Drive has four sharing roles, from least to most privilege: Viewer (browse and download), Commenter (add comments), Editor (upload, rename, move, trash, and upload new versions), and Manager (all of the above plus share with people, create external share links, and request files). You grant a role to a person on a file or folder, from its Share panel, and a role on a folder is inherited by everything inside it. These are Drive roles, separate from anyone’s role in your organization: a person whose organization role is Manager still needs Drive’s Manager role on a file to share it.
A workspace’s Shared Drive is not shared from a panel: its members reach it through the workspace. Workspace owners and members get Editor on the drive, and workspace viewers get Viewer.
Why can’t someone see a Shared Drive I set up?
Shared Drives come from workspaces: Drive creates one for each workspace, and there is no screen to create one any other way. A user sees a Shared Drive in the sidebar when they are a member of its workspace, when the drive is open to everyone in your organization, or when they are a business admin or Drive app admin. To give someone the whole drive, add them to the workspace. To give them one file or folder without the rest of the drive, share that item with them from its Share panel; it then appears under Shared with me.
How does the admin override work?
Business admins automatically receive Manager access on every drive in their organization — every Shared Drive and every person’s My Drive — without being shared in. Drive App Admins receive Manager access on every Shared Drive and on their own My Drive, but not on colleagues’ personal drives; to recover a file from someone’s My Drive, ask a business admin. Both can manage Drive’s settings.
Day-to-day
How does version history work, and how many versions are kept?
Re-uploading a file with the same name — or saving through the Office add-in — creates a new version. Each version stores its own author, size, content type, and an optional change summary. You can view, download, or restore any prior version with one click. By default Drive keeps the latest 20 versions per file. The admin can change that number in Settings under Versions retained per file, or turn Keep prior versions of files off entirely — in that case each save simply replaces the current file and no history is kept.
How do external share links work?
A user with Manager access on a file or folder can create a public link from the External share links section of its Share panel. The link can optionally be password-protected, given an expiration date, and given a download-count limit. If the expiration date is left blank, the link lasts as long as the Max external link lifetime (days) setting allows, which is 30 days by default. Any date further out than that cap is automatically clamped to it. A link can’t be extended: make a new one before it expires and send the new address — the old one stops working on its expiry date. A link also stops opening when the person who made it leaves the organization or no longer has Manager access on the file or folder; the Share panel then shows it as Stopped, and it can still be revoked. Admins can require passwords on all external links with Require password on external links (saving it on ends, for good, every live link made without a password — turning the rule off again does not bring them back), limit who may create them under Who can create external share links? (it applies to new links; links already out keep working until they expire, are revoked or stop because their maker lost Manager access), and turn external links off entirely with Allow external share links — turning that off pauses every link already sent, and the links work again if it is turned back on; revoke a link to end it for good. That switch does not stop file requests.
How do I make a file stand out for a team?
Feature it. A manager of a shared drive opens the file’s menu, chooses Feature this file, and says who it is for: a saved audience, a department, a location or a job title. It shows at the top of the drive and on those people’s Home, on the desktop and the phone. A drive can feature six files. Starring a file is different: a star is only for you.
Why can’t someone see a file I featured?
They see it only if they can open it. If they can’t, share the file with them, or with a group they’re in. Saving a feature warns you if Drive finds people in the audience who can’t open the file. A file in the Trash stops showing, and shows again when it’s restored.
How do file requests work?
File Requests let you invite an outside recipient to upload files into a folder you choose. You can set an expiration date, a maximum file count, a recipient email, and a branding profile. If no expiration is specified, the request defaults to 14 days (or the lifetime limit, if that is shorter). The admin-configured Max file request lifetime (days) (default 30 days) caps any date further out, and lowering it also shortens requests already open. A request can’t be extended: make a new one before it expires and send the new link — the old one stops working on its expiry date. A request also stops taking uploads when the person who made it leaves the organization or no longer has Manager access on the folder; the File Requests list then shows it as Stopped, and it can still be cancelled. When a recipient uploads files, the requester is notified, unless your admin has turned off Notify requester when file-request uploads arrive. Who may create requests is set under Who can request files from outside the organization?; it applies to new requests, and requests already open keep taking uploads until they expire, are cancelled or stop because their maker lost Manager access. You see the requests you created; business admins see every request, and Drive app admins see requests into Shared Drives and their own My Drive.
What notifications does Drive send, and can I turn them off?
Drive sends in-app notifications in these situations; the first four are each controlled by their own toggle in Settings (all on by default):
- Notify users when files are shared with them or their access is removed — fires when someone is given access to a file or folder (unless they already have more access through a folder above it, the drive or their workspace), when their role changes, and when their access is removed and they can no longer open it.
- Notify users when a new version is uploaded or restored — fires both when someone uploads a new version and when an editor restores an earlier one. It goes to the people the file, a folder above it or the drive is shared with (directly or through a group) and to the owner of a personal drive — never to the person who made the change. Members of a workspace who reach its Shared Drive only through the workspace are not told.
- Notify an internal recipient in-app when invited to a file request — fires when the recipient email matches a user in your organization.
- Notify requester when file-request uploads arrive — fires when external files land, in the app and by email when the requester has an address.
Drive also tells a file’s creator and earlier commenters about a new comment, tells a link’s creator when your link rules turned off or ended their share link, and sends automatic reminders when a share link or file request is approaching its expiration date. These have no toggle in Settings. Individual users can opt out of any Drive notification through their personal notification preferences (Drive notices appear in the app; Drive sends no email except the file-request emails).
Can other apps store files in Drive?
Yes. Drive doubles as the platform’s file backend. Apps like Broadcasts and Workspace attach files into a per-business system drive, so each attachment gets Drive’s version record and activity trail automatically. That system drive is not shown in Drive: people open an attachment from the post or message it came with, and who can see it follows that post or message.
When something looks wrong
“I uploaded a file but it replaced the old one instead of creating a new version”
Check whether the admin has turned Keep prior versions of files off in Settings. When versioning is disabled, each upload replaces the current file and no history is kept. Turn the setting back on to start retaining versions going forward — the previously overwritten content cannot be recovered.
“I can’t create an external share link”
Five possible causes: (1) the admin has turned off Allow external share links in Settings, (2) the admin has limited Who can create external share links? to people you are not among, (3) Drive Share Links is switched off in the Portals catalog, (4) the admin requires a password and you did not enter one, or (5) you do not have Manager access on the file or folder (the Drive role). In the first three cases the External share links section of the Share panel says so in place of the form; in the fourth the form asks for a password; in the fifth the section is not shown at all.
Why is Request files missing?
The Request files button on the File Requests page is hidden in two cases, and the page says which: the admin has limited Who can request files from outside the organization? to people you are not among, or Drive File Requests is switched off in the Portals catalog. A request can only go into a folder you have Manager access on (the Drive role): the form lists only those folders, and on the phone Request files appears in the actions of a folder you manage. If the form has no folder to choose, ask for Manager access on one.
“I trashed a file and now I can’t find it to restore it”
Each drive has its own Trash. Open the drive the item was in and choose Trash at the top of its page; the Trash entry in the left sidebar opens your My Drive’s Trash. Items can be restored for 30 days after deletion. After that window the item is no longer restorable. If a name collision exists when you restore — because someone created a new item with the same name — the restored item is automatically renamed (e.g. “report (1).docx”).
“I restored a folder but its contents are still in the Trash”
When a folder is trashed, all its descendants are trashed with the same timestamp. Restoring the folder automatically restores descendants that were trashed at that same moment. Items that were trashed individually before the folder was trashed (they carry a different timestamp) stay in the Trash and must be restored separately.
“Search only matches filenames, not what’s inside the document”
Two things to check. In-app content search requires the Embed file contents for AI search setting to be on — it is off by default, and a Drive admin turns it on in Drive Settings. When it is on, switch the search bar mode to Contents to search inside documents. Platform-wide Global Search only matches Drive item filenames, not document content — that is by design.
“I can see a file in Recent but not in Shared Drives”
A file can show up in Recent because you accessed it through a direct share (item-level membership) even though you are not a member of the drive it belongs to. That file will appear in your Shared with me list but not in the Shared Drives sidebar section, because the sidebar only lists drives where you have drive-level access.
Licensing and limits
Does Drive require a licence?
Yes. Drive requires a licence and is turned on per business by an admin from Admin → Apps → All Apps. It is not enabled by default. There is no separate per-file charge.
What are the limits I should know about?
| Limit | Default | Configurable? |
|---|---|---|
| Max file upload size | 500 MB | Yes — Max upload size (MB) in Settings |
| Versions retained per file | 20 | Yes — Versions retained per file in Settings |
| External link max lifetime | 30 days | Yes — Max external link lifetime (days) in Settings |
| File request max lifetime | 30 days | Yes — Max file request lifetime (days) in Settings |
| File request default expiry (when left blank) | 14 days | No |
| Activity log retention | 365 days | Yes — Activity log retention (days) in Settings |
| Trash restore window | 30 days | No |
| File/folder name max length | 250 characters | No |
| Drive name max length | 200 characters | No |
| Stale-content governance review interval | 120 days | No |
More help
- Drive Overview
- Ask AI — the assistant answers Drive questions from these articles.