Transfer Google Drive to OneDrive: Step-by-Step Guide

User Query: “I use Google Drive for work and have to send online folders to a new client who uses OneDrive. They say it’s time-consuming because they have to download the files from Google Drive and then upload them to their own OneDrive. Is there any easy solution?” 

This is a pretty common situation when either businesses switch from one cloud platform to another or they’re working with other companies that use different cloud services. Manually downloading files and re-uploading them to OneDrive is a pain when you’re dealing with hundreds of files or large folders, or even worse when dealing with several different user accounts.

In this guide, we’ll explain different ways to migrate Google Drive to OneDrive through the MacSonik Google Drive Migration Tool.

Centralizing Your Cloud Workspace: Moving Google Drive to OneDrive

There are the following major reasons why users choose to transfer Google Drive to OneDrive:

• Switching from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365.
• Standardizing cloud storage across the organization.
• Moving files after a company merger or acquisition.
• Collaborating with clients who use OneDrive.
• Centralizing documents in the Microsoft ecosystem.
• Moving employee files to Microsoft 365 accounts.
• Also, reducing dependence on multiple cloud-storage platforms.

The migration may involve personal Drive files, shared folders, business documents, spreadsheets, presentations, PDFs, images, and other files.

Approach 1: Transfer Google Drive to OneDrive Manually

If you’re making that exact move then Microsoft OneDrive actually has a built-in import tool which will copy over individual files and folders from Google Drive into OneDrive, without messing with the originals.

Microsoft also provides a built-in way to import other cloud files using OneDrive, including supported files and folders from Google Drive.

Step-by-Step Procedure

1. First sign in to Google Drive.
2. Pick out the files and folders you want to transfer across.
3. Download those selected files to your computer.
4. If you have to, extract the files from the archive they came in
5. Then sign in to OneDrive.
6. Create the required folders.
7. Upload the downloaded files.
8. Wait for synchronization to finish.
9. In the end, compare the source and destination files.

Limitations of Manual Transfer

Time-consuming downloads and uploads	Folder organization issues	Difficulties handling multiple users	No centralized migration monitoring
Duplicate uploads	Local storage requirements	Repeated manual work	Missed files

For a few folders, this method is acceptable. For a business environment containing thousands of files, it is not the most efficient approach.

Approach 2: Move files from Google Drive to OneDrive Using Google Takeout

Google Takeout provides another way to export Google Drive data.

Steps to Use Google Takeout

1. First of all, open Google Takeout.
2. Select Deselect all.
3. Select Google Drive.
4. Click Next step.
5. Select the available delivery option.
6. Configure the export.
7. Start the Google Drive export.
8. Download the generated data or send it to the supported destination.
9. Upload or organize the exported files in OneDrive.

A Microsoft Tech Community discussion also covers a Google Drive-to-OneDrive migration scenario using Google Takeout and the Add to OneDrive delivery option.

Limitations: Google Drive to OneDrive Google Takeout

Google Takeout can be useful for individual users, but it may not be ideal for large business migrations because administrators may need to handle:

Multiple users separately	Large data volumes	Post-migration verification	User-to-user mapping
File organizations	Migration track	Permissions	Duplicate files

Approach 3: Transfer Google Drive to OneDrive Using MacSonik Tool

For companies with a lot of Google Workspace data and are switching to Microsoft 365, there’s a tool called the MacSonik Google Drive Migration Tool that can help make the process a heck of a lot smoother. With this tool, you don’t have to manually download and re-upload files, instead you just connect the two environments, pick the data you want to transfer, choose your settings and then just let the tool do the hard work for you in batches. Moreover, this approach can be particularly useful for:

• Business migrations
• Google Workspace to Microsoft 365 projects
• Multiple user accounts
• Large Drive environments
• Employee offboarding
• Company mergers
• IT-managed cloud migrations

Steps to Export Google Drive to OneDrive Using MacSonik

1. Firstly, download and launch the MacSonik Google Drive Migration Tool and click Next.
2. Now, select a Gmail account and click OK to proceed.
3. Select the Google Drive folders and files and hit Next.
4. Then, apply filters by extension and date range while managing duplicate files and server space before migration.
5. Further, choose OneDrive as the migration destination.
6. Select a folder or file location and click Choose to confirm the destination.
7. Finally, specify a name for the destination folder and press OK.

For the complete migration process, refer to our MacSonik Google Drive Migration Guide.

Google Drive to OneDrive: Manual vs Professional Approach

Major Factors	Manual Import/Takeout	MacSonik Migration Tool
Multiple Users	Limited	Bulk workflow
Selective Migration	Limited	Available
Advanced Filters	Limited	Available Options
Migration Management	Basic	Centralized
Large Business Migration	Requires planning	Suitable for larger projects
Post-Migration Verification	Manual	Migration workflow/reporting
Google Drive Files	✔	✔
Folder Migration	✔	✔

Real-Life Scenario: Google Drive to OneDrive Migration
A 250 employee consulting company decided to switch from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365. In Google Drive they had piled up several terabytes of documents, spreadsheets, presentations and all sorts of projects and documents – a real mess.

The IT team’s initial thought was to ask all the employees to just download their files and upload them to OneDrive, but then they figured out pretty quickly that this would cause all sorts of problems with folder structure, files getting left behind, duplicates getting uploaded, and the huge amount of time it would waste on the employees side of things.

The IT team came up with a better plan – they mapped out a migration process, matched up Google Workspace users with Microsoft 365 accounts, targeted the Drive content they needed, and started moving things in batches. After each batch they’d check the file counts, structure of the folders and some of the key documents to make sure everything was looking right before moving on to the next group.

This phased approach really cut down on the amount of manual work and gave the IT team way more control over the whole process.

Best Practices for Transferring Google Drive to OneDrive 

• Audit Before Migrating: Know how much data you have before selecting the migration method.
• Check Storage: Ensure OneDrive has enough capacity for the data being transferred.
• Identify Unsupported Files: Review Google-specific content that may not migrate through the selected method.
• Plan Permission Changes: Don’t assume Google Drive sharing permissions will automatically appear in OneDrive.
• Use a Pilot Migration: Start with a small number of users or folders before migrating the complete environment.
• Keep the Source Data: Do not delete Google Drive content until the migration has been verified.
• Maintain Migration Records: For business migrations, keep track of users, batches, transferred files, failed items, and verification results.

Conclusion

To transfer Google Drive to OneDrive, you’ve got a choice of using Microsoft’s cloud import tool, Google Takeout, or a paid migration tool to get your Google Drive stuff over to OneDrive. The OneDrive import tool will copy over your files, but it’s got some limitations like file size, Google-specific file types and even path lengths. If you’ve got a really big migration to do then using a tool like Google Drive Migration Tool that can handle bulk transfers is the way to go. The most safe way to do it is to audit, test, migrate, verify, and only then delete the original data.

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