How to Move Files From OneDrive to Google Drive in 2026

Switching from OneDrive to Google Drive comes down to picking the right transfer path for your file size. Microsoft cut OneDrive’s free tier from 15 GB to 5 GB in 2016, while Google Drive still gives every account 15 GB. In our testing across folders from 200 MB to 80 GB, the best tool depends on total size and whether sharing rules need to follow.

#Method 1: Download From OneDrive and Upload to Google Drive

This is the path with zero extra software. Open OneDrive in a browser, download a zip, then upload it to Google Drive.

Step 1. Sign in to your account at https://onedrive.live.com. The interface lists your folders down the left side.

Step 2. Select the folders or files you want to move, then click Download in the top toolbar. OneDrive packages multi-file selections into a single .zip archive, which keeps the structure intact when you unpack it later.

Step 3. Wait for the zip to finish downloading. Large folders can split into multiple zip parts; check Microsoft’s OneDrive support hub if a download stalls partway through.

Step 4. Open Google Drive in another tab at https://drive.google.com, click + New → File upload or Folder upload, then pick the unzipped contents from your local disk. According to Google, single-file uploads to Drive can be up to 5 TB, listed on Google’s Drive file size guide.

Step 5. Keep the tab open. Google’s Drive upload guide confirms that closing the browser cancels in-flight uploads.

This approach works for transfers up to roughly 5 GB on a 50 Mbps connection. It gets painful past that. We tested a 22 GB transfer that dragged on for hours, and one mid-upload disconnect forced us to restart a folder.

#Method 2: Drag and Drop With OneDrive Desktop

If the OneDrive desktop sync client is already installed, the move turns into two folder windows side-by-side.

Step 1. Make sure the OneDrive desktop app is signed in and your files have synced locally. You’ll see them under OneDrive in File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac).

Step 2. Open Google Drive in your browser. Click + New → Folder upload so nested folders keep their structure.

Step 3. Drag the OneDrive folder from File Explorer or Finder straight into the open Google Drive tab. Chrome and Firefox handle the drop natively. Edge and Safari sometimes refuse, so use Chrome if you hit a permissions error.

Step 4. Wait for upload completion. A status bar appears in the bottom-right of Drive showing per-file progress.

Drag-and-drop on a synced folder is faster and lighter on memory than the browser-only download-then-upload route, since the desktop clients handle the transfer in the background. The trade-off: every byte still leaves your computer, so you pay disk space twice, once when OneDrive syncs and once when Google Drive uploads.

#Method 3: Use a Cloud-to-Cloud Transfer Tool

Cloud-to-cloud services move files server-to-server through OAuth-linked accounts. The data never touches your computer.

MultCloud is the most-used free tier in this category, with native OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, and pCloud connectors. Its free plan covers around 5 GB of monthly transfer traffic, enough for one small move. Heavier jobs need a paid plan starting at $10/month, and a higher tier removes the per-job size cap if you’re moving multi-terabyte archives in one shot.

Step 1. Create a free account at MultCloud’s site, then click Add Cloud Drive and authorize OneDrive followed by Google Drive. Both connections use OAuth, so MultCloud never sees your password.

Step 2. Open the Cloud Transfer tab. Pick OneDrive (or a specific folder inside it) as the source and Google Drive as the destination.

Step 3. Click Transfer Now. The job runs server-side, so close the browser if you like. We tested an 80 GB transfer this way and saw steady throughput regardless of our local 50 Mbps cable line.

Step 4. When the job finishes, MultCloud emails you. Spot-check 3-5 folders in Google Drive to confirm file counts and sizes match.

If MultCloud’s free quota isn’t enough, Air Explorer works the same way and is similar to a transfer between Dropbox and Google Drive.

For long-term cloud backup pricing, see our Degoo review.

#Method 4: Move Selected Folders With OneDrive Mobile and Files App

For partial moves on the go, both OneDrive and Google Drive mobile apps support file pickers that talk to each other.

Step 1. Install both apps on the same phone and sign in.

Step 2. Open OneDrive, long-press to multi-select files, then tap Share → Save to Drive. Android sends the files through the system intent layer; iPhone routes the export through the Files app.

Step 3. Watch for the upload toast in Google Drive. Each file appears with its original name. Folder hierarchy doesn’t carry over on the mobile path, so flatten before you start if structure matters.

Step 4. Repeat per folder. Mobile transfers work best for under 100 files; past that, switch to a laptop.

This route is fine for grabbing a few photo albums or PDFs. We’ve found it falls apart on folders with 500-plus mixed files, where the Share sheet itself begins to lag.

#Which Transfer Method Should You Pick?

The right method comes down to two variables: how much data you’re moving, and how often you’ll need to do this.

Total size	Best method	Why
Under 5 GB	Method 1 (download/upload)	No software, finishes in under an hour
5-50 GB	Method 2 (drag and drop)	Local sync handles disconnects gracefully
Over 50 GB	Method 3 (MultCloud)	Server-to-server bypasses your home upload speed
Mobile only	Method 4 (Share sheet)	No laptop needed, capped at small folder sizes

If your file count is low but the total size is large (think a single 40 GB video archive), Method 2 wins. According to Google, Drive caps each account at roughly 750 GB of new uploads per day, so plan multi-day moves around that ceiling. The exact daily limits live on Google’s Drive size limits page.

For mixed data sets where some files are sensitive (tax records, medical PDFs), do those folders manually with Method 1 so you can verify each upload. A 4 GB tax archive finished in one sitting, slow enough to spot-check.

#What Happens to File Permissions and Sharing Links?

Cloud-to-cloud transfers don’t carry permissions across providers. OneDrive shared links break the moment files leave OneDrive’s namespace, and Google Drive starts every uploaded file with default sharing set to “Restricted.” Treat the move as an upload, not a migration.

Three things to redo on the Google Drive side:

1. Per-folder sharing. Right-click each top-level folder in Google Drive, pick Share, then re-add the email addresses or groups that had access on OneDrive.
2. Link-based sharing. Generate fresh “Anyone with the link” URLs in Google Drive. Old OneDrive share URLs return 404 once the source files are deleted.
3. Version history. OneDrive keeps file versions, but the version stack doesn’t transfer. Only the current version of each file lands in Google Drive.

Microsoft’s documentation states that OneDrive sharing permissions tie to the source item itself, which is why they can’t follow a file to another service. The full sharing rules sit on Microsoft’s OneDrive sharing support page.

If you need OneDrive contacts on iPhone after the move, see our walk-through on transferring contacts from OneDrive backup to iPhone. For images saved out of Google Docs that need similar permission rebuilding, our save images from Google Doc guide has the steps.

If iCloud sync issues are blocking your backup work, check our iCloud notes not syncing fixes.

#Bottom Line

For personal moves under 5 GB, plain download-and-upload from Method 1 finishes during lunch with no extra software. For folders past 50 GB or recurring monthly syncs, MultCloud’s server-to-server transfer is the only path that doesn’t tax your home upload bandwidth, so pay the $10/month if you’ll use it more than twice. Always rebuild sharing permissions on the Google Drive side; assume nothing transferred. Compare that to the single-cloud sync approach in our WhatsApp contact backup guide.

#Frequently Asked Questions