Business Starter customers will soon have access to shared drives

Last year, Google announced that Google updated the storage model in Business Starter from per-user storage to pooled storage.

Monday, August 26, 2024 — Today, we’re excited to share that organizations with Business Starter will officially have access to shared drives starting mid-September.

With this change, Google Workspace Business Starter users will be able to create shared drives and add members, files, and folders. Please note that certain admin-level and security controls—like the ability to control access to the items in a shared drive—will not be included in the fundamental version of shared drives for Business Starter.

Part of empowering Google Workspace customers to do their best work means reducing the friction around file sharing and collaboration. Shared drives are a key tool for collaboration—users can store, search, and access their team's files instantly. Additionally, they offer benefits such as:

• Easy discoverability: Less time spent requesting access to files and searching for relevant documents with all of your team’s files in one place.
• Files are forever: All content stays put — even when collaborators or team members leave, your content won’t.
• Easy collaboration: Every member of a shared drive can explore and collaborate in the same files. You can also add users outside your team or organization.
• Accessible anywhere: Regardless of location or device, you can always access the files you need most.

Additional details

When shared drives are made available to Business Starter customers, all users will be able to create shared drives by default. If this default behavior is undesired, admins can update their settings before Business Starter users gain access to the feature starting on September 23, 2024.