How to Migrate Google Drive to OneDrive without losing data

Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive offer similar cloud storage capabilities. So migrating files between them should be a simple job, right? Well, not exactly. To migrate Google Drive to OneDrive, you’ll need to navigate differences in ownership models, sharing behavior, metadata handling, and shared drive structures. 

If you plan to do all this manually, you’re in for an uphill battle. That’s why many IT teams turn to tools like ShareGate Migrate to streamline complex or large-scale migrations.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to choose a Google Drive to OneDrive migration method that ensures data accuracy, security, and minimal disruption for end users.

Common Google Drive to OneDrive migration methods

There are three main methods of transferring Google Drive to OneDrive:

• Manual download/upload: You download everything from Google Drive, then upload it directly to OneDrive. This can be great for quick requests or small migrations, but at scale it’s extremely slow and tedious, with a high chance of human error.
• Microsoft Migration Manager: Microsoft’s native tool can migrate content from Google Drive (including shared drives) into Microsoft 365. Limitations tend to show up during complex sharing scenarios like external or cross-domain sharing, or when you need advanced identity/permission mapping or more control over unsupported Google-specific metadata.
• Third-party solutions: Solutions like ShareGate Migrate take migrations further than Microsoft’s native tools. It provides end-to-end automation while preserving structure, metadata, and permissions—without the limitations, licensing constraints, or gaps that often slow down Microsoft’s built-in options. 

For small-scale migrations, the manual approach might be all you need, and Microsoft Migration Manager can cover basic transfers in a pinch. But once you need to tackle a large-scale or complex migration, with tricky data, governance, and permissions requirements, third-party tools are the difference between an easy move and a painful one.

Examples of how to move files from Google Drive to OneDrive 

As your company scales and your data becomes more difficult to manage, you’ll have more reasons to move away from manual migrations. 

Let’s ground this in a couple of real-world Google Drive migration scenarios.

Cross-domain consolidations

During a merger, organizations often need to consolidate content into a single Microsoft 365 environment. If one company uses Google Drive and another uses OneDrive, you’ll need to transfer files from one platform to the other. ShareGate Migrate helps automate complex Google Workspace-to-Microsoft 365 migrations while preserving permissions, metadata, and structure, making this high-risk process far simpler.

Multi-department migrations

In an ideal world, every department would store data in the same way. In reality, especially in larger companies, that’s rarely the case. ShareGate Migrate lets you migrate Google Drive content to OneDrive in manageable phases, giving you visibility and validation at each step, so you can move forward with confidence.

Potential challenges when moving files from Google Drive to OneDrive

Most challenges people run into when migrating from Google Drive to OneDrive are because of poor planning and validation. Turning to a tool like ShareGate Migrate, which automates much of the process, can eliminate most of these issues. 

Here are several potential problems to keep an eye out for. 

File naming and path length limitations

One of the biggest benefits of Google Drive is its flexibility around file naming. But this strength becomes a major issue when migrating to OneDrive, which inherits file name and path length limits from SharePoint Online. Files with unsupported characters or that exceed SharePoint Online path length limits may fail to migrate and require remediation.

Permission mismatches

Google’s standard permission categories (Viewer, Commenter, and Editor) aren’t the same as Microsoft’s. When transferring files, you’ll need to double-check your permissions mapping. If you’re too hasty when migrating, half the company could end up with full-level access to files they shouldn’t have. 

Metadata loss (authors, timestamps, sharing settings)

Similar to permissions, Google Drive metadata tags also don’t align with Microsoft systems. If you blindly transfer files from Google Drive to OneDrive, unsupported or unmapped metadata may not transfer unless the migration tool explicitly supports it. This can lead to compliance issues when it comes time for an audit.

Throttling and transfer speed issues

Throttling is a limit on the number of files being transferred that’s put in place by the source or destination server to protect against a crash. It’s not uncommon to run into throttling issues when dealing with large files or dense folders, and while it doesn’t break your migration, it can definitely slow things down.

Why IT admins choose ShareGate for Google Drive migrations

Google Drive to OneDrive migrations can get complicated fast—especially at scale. Different permission models, naming constraints, and large volumes of data leave little room for error.

ShareGate Migrate gives IT teams a straightforward way to plan, run, and validate Google Workspace migrations without adding complexity. Here’s how ShareGate supports your Google Workspace migration:

• Pre-migration analysis: Scan your Google Drive environment upfront to surface common issues like unsupported file names or permission gaps before you migrate.
• Migrate with full fidelity: Move files with their structure, metadata, version history, and permissions intact, so content lands in OneDrive as expected.
• Bulk migration capabilities: Run large migrations in controlled batches, schedule work during off-peak hours, and keep progress predictable—even with thousands of users and files.
• Post-migration validation: Use built-in reporting to confirm what moved, flag exceptions, and prove the migration was completed as planned.

Post-migration checklist

So you’ve conducted a full migration. That’s worth celebrating—but you’re not quite done yet. Before you sign off on a Google Drive to OneDrive migration, here are a few final things to check:

• Verify the migration: Check that the total number of original files meets the total number of migrated assets. If not, you’ve got some missing files on your hands. Be sure to validate that all metadata has been successfully moved over, too.
• Reconfirm user permissions: Take a look at your new permission structure within OneDrive to see whether everything is working as you planned. If you notice a few incorrect permissions, it might be a symptom of a larger issue. Compare everything against your permissions map and fix anything that didn’t carry over correctly.
• Identify missing assets: It’s easy for a file to slip through the gaps or accidentally end up migrating twice, especially when working in batches. Comb through your data for any duplicates or missing files.

While you can carry out these checks manually, it’s much simpler to use ShareGate Migrate to automate all governance and data validation. Instead of spending your time double-checking everything, ShareGate’s reports help you see at a glance where you need to make any fixes.

Make your Google Drive to OneDrive migration a breeze with ShareGate

While you have the option of carrying out a manual migration or leaning on Microsoft’s native tools, if you want to keep things fast, stable, and predictable, there’s no better choice than ShareGate Migrate. 

With automatic reporting, validation, and bulk movement, ShareGate Migrate combines speed and reliability to reduce migration risk. Gone are the days of spending hours validating thousands of files and folders manually. 

Start a free trial today to see how ShareGate Migrate can help you streamline future large-scale migrations.