Transfer files from Google Drive to OneDrive
Server to server, without downloading anything to your computer.
How it works
Connect both accounts once. ShiftMyData then talks to Google Drive and OneDrive directly and streams the files between them in memory — nothing is written to our disks, and nothing travels down to your machine and back up again. The job runs on a worker, so closing the tab does not stop it.
Will every file be verified?
Google Drive offers MD5, SHA-1 and SHA-256 and OneDrive offers QuickXorHash — no checksum in common. Files are compared on size and modification time instead, which is the same basis every other tool uses for this pair; nobody can do better, because the two providers do not share a hash to compare.
Before you start
- The largest single file OneDrive accepts is 250 GB. A bigger one is reported as failed and the rest of the transfer carries on.
- Google Drive treats Report.pdf and report.pdf as two files; OneDrive treats them as one. Where both exist in one folder, only one arrives, so rename one first.
- Google Drive allows two files with exactly the same name in one folder, and OneDrive does not. Only one of each such pair is copied; rename duplicates before you start if you need both.
- OneDrive refuses the characters " * : < > ? / \ | in a name, a name that starts or ends with a space, and names Windows reserves such as CON or desktop.ini. Such names are written with look-alike Unicode characters instead of failing, and turn back into the originals if the files are later copied out through ShiftMyData.
- Google Docs, Sheets and Slides arrive as Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. Files shared with you and shared drives are separate roots in the explorer, not part of My Drive: copy them as well if you want them.
- A transfer copies each file's current content, name and modification time; sharing and version history stay behind on Google Drive. Business migration carries them where both sides support them.
Sources: support.google.com · rclone.org · support.microsoft.com
Worth knowing about Google Drive
Google Docs, Sheets and Slides are not files in the ordinary sense -- they have no bytes to copy and no size until they are exported. ShiftMyData exports them to their Office equivalents on the way out; a native Doc cannot be preserved as a Doc anywhere except another Drive.
Worth knowing about OneDrive
OneDrive's only checksum is QuickXorHash, which Microsoft invented and nobody else implements. It verifies perfectly against another OneDrive and is useless against anything else.
Steps
- On the Clouds screen, add Google Drive: sign in with Google and allow access.
- Add OneDrive the same way: sign in with Microsoft and allow access.
- Pick the source folder in the left pane and the destination folder in the right.
- Choose a mode — copy, mirror, move, or two-way — and start the transfer.
- Leave it. Progress is on the Jobs screen, and a webhook can tell you when it ends.
Questions
Do I have to download my files from Google Drive first?
No. The transfer is streamed from Google Drive to OneDrive on our servers, so nothing is written to your machine and your home upload speed is not the limit.
What happens if I close my laptop?
The job keeps running. It is queued on a worker rather than in your browser, and the progress is there when you come back.
How do I know every file arrived?
Google Drive offers MD5, SHA-1 and SHA-256 and OneDrive offers QuickXorHash — no checksum in common. Files are compared on size and modification time instead, which is the same basis every other tool uses for this pair; nobody can do better, because the two providers do not share a hash to compare.
Is there a size limit?
None imposed by us. What you move is drawn from your prepaid allowance (30 GB free, then 500 GB for ₹100 or 2,500 GB for ₹500, each valid a year). OneDrive takes single files up to 250 GB, and its own storage quota applies.
Guides
- Transfer Google Drive files to another Google account
- Transfer OneDrive files to another OneDrive account
- Moving terabytes between clouds
- Two-way sync between two clouds