Migrating from Microsoft SharePoint Online to Google Drive is a significant move that requires careful planning to ensure permissions, metadata, and folder structures remain intact. Depending on your business size, you have three primary paths.

1. Enterprise Path: Google’s Data Migration

Google Workspace provides a native, cloud-to-cloud migration service within the Admin Console. This is the most reliable method for large-scale transfers.

• Requirements: You must be a Super Administrator in Google Workspace and a Global Administrator in Microsoft 365.

• The Process:

  1. Connect: In the Google Admin Console, go to Data > Data Migration (New). Select “Microsoft SharePoint Online” and authorize the connection.

  2. Mapping: You must create a CSV file that maps your SharePoint Site URLs to specific Google Shared Drives.

  3. Permissions: During setup, you can choose to map Microsoft identities (emails) to their Google counterparts to preserve access levels.

  4. Run: Start the migration. Google’s servers will handle the transfer in the background without needing your computer to stay on.

2. The Specialist Path: Third-Party Tools

If you have complex requirements—such as migrating version history, specific metadata, or complex nested permissions—native tools can sometimes fall short. Specialist tools offer deeper control.

• Popular Tools (2026): CloudFuze, BitTitan MigrationWiz, and MultCloud.

• Best For: * Delta Migrations: Transferring only files that have changed since your last sync (to avoid downtime).

  • Permission Mapping: Automatically converting “Read/Write” SharePoint permissions to “Contributor/Content Manager” roles in Google Drive.

  • Large Data: Moving terabytes of data with detailed error reporting and logs.

3. Small Scale: Manual “Download & Upload”

For very small teams or individual folders, you can use the manual method, though it is the most prone to errors.

1. Download: Select your folders in SharePoint and click Download. SharePoint will zip them into a single file.

2. Extract: Unzip the folder on your local machine.

3. Upload: In Google Drive, click + New > Folder Upload and select the unzipped folder.

   • Warning: This method strips away all permissions and metadata. You will have to re-share every folder manually once uploaded.

Critical Pre-Migration Checklist

• Shared Drive Limits: Google Shared Drives have a limit of 500,000 items (files and folders). If your SharePoint site is larger, you must split it into multiple Shared Drives.

• File Size: Most migration services skip individual files larger than 2GB (the standard SharePoint limit) or 15 TB (the Google Drive limit).

• Communication: Advise users to stop editing files in SharePoint 24 hours before the “cut-over” to ensure no data is lost during the final sync.