google-drivegoogle-drive-sharing
I shared a folder of pictures with someone. I set them as owner. I then deleted the folder. It was deleted for them as well.
Google's Help docs claim that transferring ownership of files actually gives them the files. But this is clearly not the case.
What exactly does being owner mean if it doesn't stop someone else from deleting your files?
And how do I actually transfer files to someone else so I can delete them out of my own Google Drive?
Yes, deleting a shared file will delete it from the the shared drive and ultimately the delete will propogate to all other synced devices.
You can just do an experiment: Delete a shared file that no one cares about and see what happens. Create a dummy file if you need to. Or just "undelete" the file from your trash bin (if you are syncing to a device that implements a trash bin concept) once you've run the experiment.
See also this post on the Google forums.
To make that a shared file or folder appear in "My Drive" of the account to which those items were shared, the account user should move those items to the account "My Drive". Otherwise the items will become orphaned.
The "Shared with me" view in the left-hand side navigation lets you see the files and folders that other people have shared with you, beginning with the most recent.
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Add files to “My Drive”
To make sure you have the most current version of a file in the Drive folder on your Mac or PC, you need to store it in “My Drive” in Google Drive online.
Here’s how to add something to “My Drive” from “Shared with me” in the new Google Drive:
- Sign in to drive.google.com.
- Click Shared with me in the left-hand side navigation.
- Hover over a file and click the
Add to My Drive icon. The files you chose will automatically sync to the Google Drive folder on your computer.
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If an item in Google Drive loses all of its parent folders, it becomes an orphan. The item still exists, but it may be a little harder to find.
How does a file become orphaned?
Files are orphaned due to situations related to sharing and permissions. For example:
- User A creates folder X in his Drive.
- User A shares folder X with user B.
- User B creates item Y inside folder X.
- User A trashes folder X, and empties his trash.
At this point, item Y becomes orphaned. It was never created inside of user B's My Drive, and its parent folder (folder X) is now gone. Note that item Y is not deleted along with with folder X because user A can't delete user B's file.
To prevent that a file that it's ownership will be transferred become an orphan file, do the following:
Best Answer
According to the Google Help Center:
If you just transferred ownership of the folder, and not the individual files within, then you were still the owner of the original files within the folder. Thus, if you deleted a file, it would be deleted for everyone.