How to migrate to Microsoft 365 with ShareGate: Google Drive to OneDrive migration

TL;DR: With ShareGate, you connect to your Google Workspace source, pick a OneDrive for Business destination, and copy your files over—metadata and all. Your source is never touched, re-runs are free, and a post-migration report flags any errors so you can fix them fast. Here's the step-by-step.

You've probably been weighing it for a while. Google Drive did the job, but OneDrive's deeper ties to Microsoft 365—Office apps, SharePoint, Teams—started to win you over. The only thing holding you back was the move itself.

Good news: ShareGate (the tool teams trust for SharePoint migrations) handles Google Drive to OneDrive too. This guide walks you through the whole thing, step by step. Let's dive in.

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Step 1: Download ShareGate to start transferring Google Drive to OneDrive 

First, download ShareGate. Once it's installed, migrating from Google Drive to OneDrive in Microsoft 365 is straightforward.

Note: ShareGate supports migrations from Google Drive accounts that belong to a Google Workspace organization. If you're moving files from a personal Google Drive account, import from a file share instead.

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Step 2: Connect to Google Drive in ShareGate

In ShareGate, click the Copy tab on the left. When prompted for the type of copy, choose Import from Google Drive.

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Then, enter your Google Workspace email to connect to your source account. Check Connect as admin to migrate files across every Google Drive account on your domain, or leave it unchecked to migrate just one. Then click Connect.

Note: Before you connect, your Google Workspace administrator needs to add ShareGate as a trusted app so it can access your Drive data. Our support docs have step-by-step instructions. (Microsoft's own Migration Manager works the same way—it requires a Google Workspace admin to install and authorize a migration app from the Google Workspace Marketplace.)

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On the authentication screen, confirm your Google email or the phone number tied to the account and click Next.

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Enter your password, and when ShareGate Migrate asks for access, click Allow.

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Step 3: Select the destination for your Google Drive data in ShareGate 

With your source connected, it's time to choose where everything lands.

Enter the credentials for the Microsoft 365 tenant you're migrating into and click Connect.

Then pick your destination target—the document library where your Google Drive content will live.  

Since this is a Google Drive to OneDrive migration, choose a OneDrive for Business document library where you have admin permissions. (Migrating to SharePoint instead? You'd select the destination site collection here.) This mirrors Microsoft's own requirement: you need OneDrive/SharePoint admin, Migration Administrator, or Global admin access on the destination.

Tip: ShareGate Migrate also handles OneDrive migrations between tenants. Our in-depth tutorial covers the specifics for a smooth, stress-free tenant-to-tenant move in OneDrive.

Click Next.

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Now you can drag and drop content into the destination, or click Start copy in the bottom-right corner.

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Step 4: Find and fix errors while you transfer files with ShareGate's post-migration report

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When the migration finishes, you get a report listing what moved successfully, along with any warnings or errors.

If something needs attention, the report tells you exactly what and why—so you can resolve it and keep moving.

For example, if you tried copying to a SharePoint site collection where you lacked admin permissions...

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...you'd simply click Back, pick a destination where they do have admin rights…

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...and that's it—a successful Google Drive to Microsoft 365 migration.

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Migration's done. Now keep it clean.

Moving files from Google Drive to OneDrive is simple, and any user with full control of the destination library can handle it—freeing up IT for the harder stuff. Prefer to automate? You can run the whole thing with PowerShell. Check the PowerShell section of our support docs for commands, and if you want a second set of eyes on your script, send it to support@sharegate.com or drop it in the comments. We'll review it before you kick things off.

But landing your files in Microsoft 365 is just day one of a new environment.

Everything you just moved now lives in a world of shared links, guest access, and sprawling permissions. And that mess grows quietly through everyday collaboration.

The OneDrive you migrated into today won't look like the OneDrive you have in six months

New sites, orphaned files, access nobody remembers granting. And the moment you turn on Copilot, every one of those gaps gets a lot more visible. That's because AI doesn't just surface your content, it amplifies it. Feed it chaos, you get chaos back.

Fortunately, the same ShareGate that gets your files into Microsoft 365 keeps them from drifting into chaos afterward: continuous visibility into who has access to what across OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams, and Groups, so you can catch oversharing and tighten permissions before they become a liability.

Curious how it all fits together? See how ShareGate helps you migrate faster and govern smarter in Microsoft 365.