Moving from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365 can offer significant benefits for organisations looking to bring their documents, collaboration and business applications into a single Microsoft environment. However, migrating Google Drive to SharePoint Online requires careful planning.

It is not simply a case of moving folders from one platform to another. Google Drive and SharePoint manage files, permissions, collaboration and information structure differently.

A well-planned Google Drive to SharePoint migration should therefore look at how your organisation works today and how information should be organised within Microsoft 365 going forward. As a SharePoint Migration Partner, we wanted to share our approach to properly managing a Google Drive to SharePoint Online migration.

Why Migrate Google Drive to SharePoint?

For organisations already using or moving towards Microsoft 365, SharePoint provides a central platform for document management and collaboration.

Combined with Microsoft Teams and OneDrive, SharePoint can provide the foundation for a more joined-up digital workplace.

Moving from Google Drive to SharePoint can help organisations:

  • Consolidate documents within Microsoft 365
  • Improve document management and governance
  • Integrate files more closely with Microsoft Teams
  • Introduce more structured permissions and access controls
  • Use metadata, document libraries and search to improve information management
  • Connect documents with Microsoft Power Platform solutions and business processes

However, achieving these benefits depends on designing the new environment properly rather than simply recreating Google Drive inside SharePoint.

Understand What You Have in Google Drive

The first step should be an assessment of your current Google Workspace environment.

This should identify what information exists across My Drive and Shared Drives, how much data is involved, who owns it and who currently has access.

It is also worth identifying content that no longer needs to be migrated.

Years of duplicate documents, outdated files and abandoned folders can significantly increase the volume of information being moved. A migration is a good opportunity to clean up this content before it reaches SharePoint.

Decide Where Your Files Should Go

One of the most important decisions is determining the correct destination for your Google Drive content.

Not everything should automatically be moved into one large SharePoint site.

For example, personal working files may be more appropriate for OneDrive, while departmental and shared business information will typically belong within SharePoint sites and document libraries.

Information used by project teams may also need to form part of Microsoft Teams, with SharePoint providing the underlying document storage.

Creating this structure before the migration begins can make the new environment significantly easier for users to navigate.

Review Permissions Before Migration

Google Drive and SharePoint handle sharing and permissions differently.

Rather than attempting to reproduce every historical permission exactly, review who genuinely needs access to your information.

Pay particular attention to:

  • Externally shared documents
  • Public or widely shared links
  • Former employees
  • Individual user permissions
  • Confidential or sensitive information
  • Departmental access
  • Document ownership

Cleaning up permissions before migration can help create a more manageable and secure SharePoint environment.

Consider File Compatibility and Google Formats

File compatibility is another important area to assess. Organisations using Google Workspace may have Google Docs, Sheets and Slides alongside traditional Microsoft Office documents, PDFs and other files.

Your migration plan should determine how native Google files will be handled and whether they need to be converted to equivalent Microsoft formats, such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

This should be tested before undertaking a wider migration, particularly where important documents rely on formatting, formulas or application-specific functionality.

Test Your Migration Before Go-Live

A pilot migration can identify potential issues before large volumes of business-critical information are moved. Testing should cover more than simply whether a file has arrived successfully.

You need to carefully test and check every element of your approach, from: file structures, permissions, metadata, search to external sharing requirements.

For larger organisations, a phased migration can also reduce disruption by moving departments, sites or Shared Drives in controlled stages.

Make Google Drive Migration Part of a Bigger Microsoft 365 Plan

Moving from Google Drive to SharePoint should ultimately be about improving how your organisation manages information, not simply changing where files are stored.

Consider how SharePoint will interact with Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, Power Automate and the wider Microsoft 365 platform. Establishing clear governance, ownership and information architecture at the beginning can help create an environment that remains manageable long after the migration is complete.

Planning a Google Drive to SharePoint Migration?

Every Google Workspace environment is different. Data volumes, shared drives, permissions, file formats and existing business processes can all affect the complexity of a migration.

Bridgeall’s SharePoint migration services help organisations plan, structure and deliver migrations to SharePoint Online, from initial discovery and architecture through to migration, testing and adoption.

Rather than simply moving your existing file structure, we can help you use migration as an opportunity to create a cleaner, more secure and better organised Microsoft 365 environment.