Make someone else the owner of your file

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You own the files that you create or upload on Google Drive. You can transfer ownership of the files and folders that you own to another account.

Before you transfer ownership

You can only transfer ownership to someone you shared the file or folder with. Learn how to share files from Google Drive.
When you make someone else the owner of a folder, you still own the files inside. Learn how to share folders in Google Drive.
If you transfer ownership of many files and folders at once, it may take some time for you to see the changes.
To transfer all your Google Drive files and folders to another account, you can download your Google data.

If you use your Google Account for work or school:

You can only transfer ownership of files and folders to someone in your organisation.
The transfer doesn't require the new owner to accept.

After you transfer ownership

When you send an ownership transfer request:

The pending owner is notified by email that, if they accept the transfer request, they become the file owner. Until then, you remain the owner.
The pending owner is upgraded to Editor, unless they’re already an Editor.
If the pending owner accepts, you’re downgraded to Editor. The new owner can remove you.
If the pending owner declines, you remain the owner.

Change owners in Google Drive

Important: You can transfer ownership of a file to someone who you previously shared the file with. Learn more about sharing files from Google Drive.

On your computer, open Google Drive.
Find the file that you want to transfer then right-click.
Click Share > click Share .
Next to the recipient's name, click the down arrow Transfer ownership.

Change owners in a Docs, Sheets, Slides or Vids file

Important: You can transfer ownership of a file to someone who you previously shared the file with. Learn more about sharing files from Google Drive.

To transfer file ownership in Google Docs, Sheets, Slides or Vids:

On your computer, open Google Drive.
Open a Google Docs, Sheets, Slides or Vids file.
In the upper-right corner, click Share.
Next to the recipient's name, click the down arrow Transfer ownership.

Cancel a transfer

Important: You can't cancel a transfer after the new owner has accepted the request.

To cancel file ownership transfer in Google Docs, Sheets, Slides or Vids:

On your computer, open a file.
In the upper-right corner, click Share.
Next to the recipient's name, click the down arrow Cancel ownership transfer.

Accept or decline an ownership transfer request

You get an email when someone requests a file transfer. You can accept or decline the invitation. You can also search in Drive for files pending a response to an ownership transfer request.

Open Google Drive.
In the search bar at the top, enter pendingowner:me.
Right-click on the file or files that you want to respond to.
Click Share Accept ownership? Accept or Decline.

Important:

You remain the file owner until the pending owner accepts your request. After the transfer, you can edit the file until your permissions change.
You can't transfer a file from your personal Google Account to someone with a work or school account.
If you send an ownership transfer request to a personal account and that account becomes a work or school account, the pending owner can't accept the request.
If you send an ownership transfer request and your personal account becomes a work or school account, the pending owner can't accept the request.
You can cancel the request.
The pending owner can decline the request.
When you transfer ownership of a file, it's no longer in My Drive and doesn't count towards your storage. It'll count towards the storage of the new owner.

Important: This article refers to Vids, a product available for selected users to test in alpha and in Google Workspace Labs. It's an invite-only programme for users to try new AI features. Users with Vids access can invite Workspace account users to find, edit and collaborate on a video. Workspace Labs is currently available to trusted testers in English and may not be available in your country or region.