[3 Ways] How to Add 'Shared with me' to 'My Drive'

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• Know about "Shared with me" in Google Drive
• How to Add "Shared with me" to "My Drive"? 3 Ways
  ► Solution 1. Choose "Add shortcut to Drive" Option
  ► Solution 2. Add "Shared with me" to "My Drive" by Download & Upload
  ► Solution 3. Regularly Add Shared Folder to "My Drive" (Not Shortcut)
• More about MultCloud
• The End

Know about "Shared with me" and "My Drive" in Google Drive

Google Drive is a free cloud storage service provided by Google. Both individuals and companies can use this free platform to store all kinds of data. With Google Drive, companies can share work documents, excel, videos, etc. with employees so that employees can access these shared project resources anytime and anywhere and have real-time update facilities. In addition, students can also use a dedicated account to better complete their academic tasks.

Google Drive contains two file storage paths: "My Drive" and "Shared with me". "My Drive" refers to the files and folders that you have created or uploaded to your own Google Drive account. You have the ownership and full control. On the other hand, "Shared with me" is where you can acces all data that have been shared with you by other users. This can include documents, spreadsheets, presentations, photos, videos, and other types of files.

When someone shares a file or folder with you in Google Drive, they can give you different level of access, such as "view only" or "edit" access. This directly determines what you can do with the shared data, like viewing, commenting, or modifying. It provides a convenient place to get all files shared with you and collaborate on these files without searching through all your own files or asking others for the permission.

How to Add "Shared with me" to "My Drive"? 3 Ways

Due to the difference of "My Drive" and "Shared with me", some users might need to add "Shared with me" to "My Drive" in order to put all files / folders in one place for centralized management. However, how to save or copy "Shared with me" to "My Drive". It confused lots of Google Drive users. Luckily, we have rounded up 3 practical methods, with detailed operation steps attached, in this article.

Method 1. Choose "Add shortcut to Drive" Option

One way that many users often use is the file move or copy option built into Google Drive: "Add shortcut to Drive". This method is mainly to create a copy of the shared file or folder. After the copy is created, the user can directly edit the content shared by other users in My Drive (if the "Editor" permission is granted to you).

Step 1: Log in to your Google Drive account and enter the "Shared with me" interface.
Step 2: Select the file or folder that needs to be copied, and then click the right mouse button.
Step 3: Select "Add shortcut to Drive" option in the pop-up window, and then select "My Drive".

There is an alternative to this method, which is to use a shortcut: SHIFT+Z.  But one thing you should note: the "Shift+Z" shortcut or "Add shortcut to Drive" option requires you have the advanced sharing option "Editor can change permissions and share". If this option is disabled, you will not be able to add a shared folder to my drive, and receive the following error message you encounter. E.g:

If you encounter the problem Google Drive add to My Drive missing, please make sure it's a file not a folder, or Google Drive does not provide the option to add it to your "My Drive".

Method 2. Add "Shared with me" to "My Drive" by Download & Upload

In order to get around the limitations caused by the accessibility level, you can also choose another traditional way, namely uploading and downloading. Download the data from "Shared with me" to the local storage drive, and then upload it to the "My Drive". The specific steps are as follows:

Step 1: Enter the main interface of Google Drive, and then click the "Shared with me" icon.
Step 2: Select the file or folder to be moved, then right-click the mouse and select "Download".

Step 3: Then go to the "My Drive" interface, and then select the "Upload Files" or "Upload Folder" button in the drop-down list to upload the data just downloaded.

When using this method, even if the file is deleted or the file owner changes the file permissions, you can still access the information at any time. But this method also has some limitations.

So, is there a way to avoid all the above-mentioned problems and support execute the task of Google Drive "Shared with me" add to "My Drive" regularly? A multiple cloud storage manager introduced next may be able to help you.

Method 3. Regularly Add Shared Folder to "My Drive" (Not Shortcut)

As a web-based cloud file manager, MultCloud supports the regular transfer, sync and backup of data across cloud drives, as well as other basic functions supported by cloud drives, such as: copy to, download, share, cut, paste, delete, preview, rename, copy, etc.

Currently, MultCloud supports adding more than 30 cloud storage services, Dropbox, Dropbox Business, Google Drive, G Suite, Google Photos, OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, SharePoint, MEGA, iCloud Drive, iCloud Photos, Icedrive, 4Shared, even adding Shared with me in Google Drive and Shared Drive in Google Workspace separately. With MultCloud, you can easily manage multiple cloud storge accounts.

In addition, MultCloud supports various core functions, such as Cloud Transfer, Cloud Sync, Cloud Backup, Team Transfer and Remote Upload. These options can save time, reduce the risk of data loss or corruption, and maintain the data security during the data transfer process.

Then, how to add "Shared with me" to "My Drive" with MultCloud?

Step 1: Go to the MultCloud homepage and register an account with an email address. 

Step 2: Click "Add Cloud", select "Shared with me", and then grant MultCloud access to the Google Drive account. Finally add Google Drive in the same way.

Step 3: When adding "Shared with me" to "My Drive", you have two options available, the first is Copy to, and the second is Cloud Transfer.

Option 1: When there are few files to be transferred, you can use the Copy to option. Select the file or folder that needs to be moved in Shared with Me, right-click the mouse and select "Copy to" (you can also select the options listed above), and finally select Google Drive as the destination path to add shared folder to My Drive not shortcut.

Option 2: When there are many files to be transferred, Cloud Transfer can help you a lot. Enter the "Cloud Transfer" interface, select "Shared with me" and Google Drive as the source path and target path respectively, and then click "Transfer now" to let Google Drive Shared with Me add to My Drive directly.

More about MultCloud

With the "Copy to" and "Cloud Transfer" provided by MultCloud, you can easily add "Shared with me" to "My Drive" instead of adding shortcut. After the file is moved, you can edit, move, delete and other operations on the file regardless of whether you have obtained the "Editor" permission. Besides, the following features offered by MutlCloud can also benefit you a lot in your cloud data management:

The End

After reading here, you might find the best free way to add Shared with Me to My Drive is MultCloud, because it allows you to add shared folder to My Drive not shortcut and you can add shared folder to My Drive on Windows 10 desktop, or other computers. If you use Add shortcut to My Drive, it only creates shortcuts not the real file copy. Besides, download files from Shared with Me and upload to My Drive is another option you can choose from.