Body
This document provides recommendations and instructions for using Google Transfer. (If you are looking to export MHC Google data other than Drive and Mail data, refer to
Getting Started With Google Takeout.)
For data protection, Faculty and staff are not able to use Google Transfer.
Overview
Google Transfer is a tool developed by Google that allows you to transfer a copy of all email in Gmail and all Drive files you own in your MHC Google account to another Google account (e.g., personal @gmail.com account). This document provides instructions for getting started with Google Transfer.
Important: Google provides this service "as is" and without administrative support. LITS has little ability to diagnose or assist with problems you might encounter.
Table of contents
Common issues
"Transfer Your Content is only available to authorized G Suite for Education Accounts."
This error is caused when you are logged in to more than one Google account in your browser and Google is responding as if you're attempting to use Transfer for one of the other accounts.
Resolution
- Log out of all Google accounts in your browser.
- Log back in to your MHC Google account only and try to initiate the transfer again.
- Use an incognito window or other browser to log in to your personal account if needed when following the instructions.
"Sorry can't transfer ownership to [email address]. Ownership can only be transferred to another user in the same organization as the current owner."
This error is caused if you try to transfer ownership of individual files outside of the MHC Google environment rather than using the Google Transfer process.
If you want to be more selective about which files to move over to a personal account than Google Transfer's all-or-nothing option, we'd recommend downloading individual files or folders and re-uploading them to a personal Google Drive or (for larger volumes of data) use Google Takeout.
General bugginess
Google Transfer, like the regular Takeout tool, can be buggy and not work 100% of the time. In testing, we’ve found that it may create additional copies of the same file or share files from your MHC Google account to your personal account in addition to making copies of those files.
Considerations and recommendations
Google Transfer only supports Gmail and Drive
- Google Photos will not transfer using this method. You should use the Partner Sharing method to transfer your Google Photos from MHC Google to your personal Google account.
- You can only copy ALL of your Gmail or Drive content, not a sub-selection (unlike the regular Google Takeout tool).
- Google shared drives do not transfer.
You must ensure you have enough storage space available in your personal account, or the transfer will fail.
-
If you exceed the storage of your personal account, there is no way to stop the transfer. You will need to delete data until there is enough free space for the transfer to complete. LITS cannot help you with this, even if Google Support tells you to talk to us.
-
A failed transfer can result in duplicate files in your personal account. If this happens, you should delete all copied content in your personal account and restart the transfer.
Allow for plenty of time and be patient while it processes
- The process can take up to a week, especially if you have a lot of content or a slow internet connection. In our testing, we've noticed that copying large files (100GB+) significantly slows down the process.
- We recommend breaking the transfer up into two parts:
- One transfer for Gmail and one transfer for Drive.
- You cannot stop a transfer once it starts.
- You can always check the status of your transfer, but it will not tell you the progress it’s made until completion.
- Copied files or mail might appear in batches on your personal account during the process.
- It is important not to touch the mail or files in either your MHC Google account or personal account while the transfer is occurring to avoid potential issues.
- Transfers in progress at the time your account is suspended will not finish.
Details about what will and won't transfer over from Gmail and Drive
| Item type |
Will it transfer? |
| Shared Drives and their contents |
No, any items in those that you need should be downloaded and saved separately. |
| Locked Google Drive files |
Yes, though the tool unlocks the copy in your personal account and leaves it locked in MHC Google. |
| Google Drive files with the “Viewers and commenters can see the option to download, print, and copy” setting unchecked |
No, the tool doesn’t transfer these files. |
| Google Sites of which you are the sole owner |
Yes, the tool copies the site and leaves it unpublished. The published site in your MHC Google account remains published. |
| Google Forms |
No |
| Google Drawings, Microsoft files, .ZIP files, videos, and photos (not Google Photos) |
Yes |
| Shared Google Drive folder structures where you own folders and/or files within it if you own the shared parent folder |
Yes, the tool moves the folder. However, the following occurs:
-
It copies everything you own in the folder structure (folders, files) and keeps the structure intact.
-
It only copies subfolders created/owned by others collaborating on the shared folder. It does not copy over any files other people own in the structure, just their folders.
-
As a note, if you delete a shared folder you own, all files/folders owned by other people within the structure will move back to their respective My Drives.
|
| Shared Google Drive folder structures where you own folders and/or files within it if you don't own the shared parent folder |
No, the tool doesn’t copy any files you own that live within a shared parent folder owned by someone else. |
| Google Drive file comments |
Yes, file comments are copied, but revision/version history is not. |
| Google Drive file sharing permissions |
No. Your data sharing and permissions on files and folders are not retained. Because the files are copies, your personal account is now the owner, and anything you want to retain sharing on will need to be reshared. |
| Archived emails |
Yes, but these emails will only appear in the special labels Transfer adds |
| Emails in Trash |
No |
| Email labels |
Yes. In Gmail, whatever labels your emails have attached to them (e.g., Inbox, Example Label 1, etc.), Transfer will maintain those labels when it copies them to your personal account. |
| Email attachments |
Yes |
| Google Photos |
No, use the Partner Sharing method to transfer your Google Photos from MHC Google to your personal Google account. Alternately, use Google Takeout. |
Start the Google Transfer process
To start your transfer request:
-
Ensure you have a non-MHC Google account created with enough storage to hold everything you’re copying.
-
Log out of all other Google accounts in your browser so that you're only logged into your MHC Google account.
-
Go to Google Transfer while logged in to your MHC Google account.
-
Enter the email address of your personal account in the field under “Enter a destination account.”
-
Select SEND CODE.
-
Go to your personal account and log in to check your email. We strongly recommend opening an incognito window in your browser or other web browser entirely to log in to your personal account to avoid any issues or errors.
-
Find and open the email from Google in your personal account. The subject line should be similar to “Verify your account.”
-
Select the Get confirmation code button in the email, which will open a new window/tab.
-
Copy the code from the window/tab that opens.
-
Navigate back to the Google Transfer page where you’re logged in as your MHC Google account.
-
Paste the copied code in the field under “Verify destination account” and choose Verify.
-
Toggle which content you want to copy to your personal account - Drive (only files you own) and/or Gmail (all email).
-
Choose Start Transfer to begin the process.
When the transfer is complete, you'll receive a confirmation email sent to your personal account (your MHC Google account will not receive any notification). The confirmation email will be from noreply-account-migration@google.com. If you don’t find the email, check your Spam label or check the status of your transfer to figure out if it’s complete.
After the Google Transfer process
Gmail
In Gmail, the tool applies two labels to all mail copied to your personal account (in addition to any user-created labels already applied):
- School/work email address (“username@mtholyoke.edu”)
- Moved [DATE] (“Moved 2024-03-26 10:44”)
Google Drive
In Drive, the tool places all copied files into a folder in your My Drive with the name “school/work email [DATE]” ("username@mtholyoke.edu 2024-03-26 10:44").
Google Transfer does not delete the data you transferred from your MHC Google account to your personal account. If you wish to delete files from your MHC Google, you will need to go back to your MHC Google account and manually delete all of the data that is no longer needed in Google. MHC will delete your Google account and all its data 6 months after your account closure.
You should always compare your Google Transfer data with the original data still in your MHC Google account to ensure everything has been copied properly. If Transfer fails or data is missing, either try the transfer process again or use Google Takeout to export your data to a .ZIP file.
Google Photos transfer via Partner Sharing method
Set up Partner Sharing
To move your photos/videos to a different, non-MHC personal Google account, share your photo library with that account using Partner Sharing. Alternately, use Google Takeout.
Note: Unfortunately, your photo album structures will not be transferred. You will have to manually recreate and sort each album in your personal Photos account afterward.
- Go to Google Photos.
- Select the gear icon in the top right.
- Select the drop-down arrow beside Sharing and then choose Partner Sharing.
- Keep the start date set to Off.
- Select All photos and click Next.
- Enter your personal Google account’s email address in the field provided and choose Next. (You can only transfer to another Google account.)
- Confirm that everything looks correct and choose Send invitation.
- Open an incognito window and log in to your personal (non-MHC) Google account.
- Go to Google Photos with your personal account. It may take a few minutes to register the invitation.
- Select the gear icon in the top right.
- Select the drop-down arrow beside Sharing and then choose Partner Sharing.
- Choose Pending invitation under "Photos from [MHC Account]."
- Select Accept.
- You may be asked to "Share back with [MHC Account]" - if so, select Not now.
- You will be taken to an album with all your photos/videos from your MHC Google account. Select Turn on auto save in the top left corner.
- Select Save all photos and choose Done. (The top left corner should now say "Saving automatically.")
Depending on the number of photos and videos you currently have in your MHC Google Photos library, it may take some time for Google to automatically save your photos/videos to your personal account (especially videos). To be safe, we recommend waiting at least 24 hours, maybe more, before disconnecting Partner Sharing and deleting your photos/videos from MHC Google. (You can check if they have all been saved by going to your recently added photos page and scrolling through it.)
Remove Partner Sharing when you're done
To disconnect Partner Sharing after Google has automatically saved all of your MHC Google account photos/videos:
- Go to Google Photos with your personal account.
- Select the gear icon in the top right.
- Select the drop-down arrow beside Sharing and then Partner Sharing.
- Choose Remove partner and then click Remove.
- Repeat these steps to disconnect Partner Sharing from your MHC account, too.
If all of the photos/videos you saved to your personal account from your MHC Google account are still there after removing Partner Sharing, you should be safe to delete them from your MHC Google account.
Important: There is a known bug with transferring Google Photos using Partner Sharing. After completing the steps, you'll notice that your photos do not take up storage space within your personal Google account. This is the bug, and Google is aware of it. There is currently no ETA on when it will be addressed and fixed by Google. Please be aware that Google could fix this bug at any time, which could cause you to exceed the storage limit in your personal (non-MHC) Google account.