How to Revoke Google Drive Access When Employees Leave

To revoke someone's Google Drive access, search to:their-email@example.com to find all files shared with them, then open each file's sharing settings and remove their email. For faster bulk removal in Google Workspace, admins can transfer file ownership and manage access through the Admin Console. The critical point: access doesn't disappear automatically when someone leaves—you must manually remove it.

When an employee or contractor leaves your organization, they typically retain access to every file they could previously view. Their work account might be deactivated, but any personal email addresses (Gmail, etc.) they used remain active. Those shared folders from their first week? Still accessible. That client proposal they collaborated on? They can still open it.

This guide covers the complete offboarding process for Google Drive access—from finding everything they can access to removing it all and handling file ownership.

Why Access Doesn't Disappear Automatically

Google Drive permissions are persistent by design. When you share a file with someone, that share remains until you explicitly remove it. There's no automatic expiration, no "remove access when they leave," no connection between your HR system and Drive sharing.

This creates a specific risk pattern:

Scenario	What Happens	Risk
Work account deactivated	They can't log in with work email	Low (for work-email-only shares)
Personal email was also used	Personal account still works	High
"Anyone with link" files	They still have the links	High
Files downloaded locally	Copies exist on their devices	Permanent (can't be revoked)

The work account deactivation only helps if ALL sharing was done to their work email exclusively. In practice, people use personal emails for convenience, and link-shared files don't require any email at all.

Before They Leave: The Ownership Question

Before revoking access, handle file ownership. If the departing person owns files that your organization needs, you must transfer ownership before their account is deleted.

Why Ownership Matters

When someone owns a file:

Only they can delete it permanently
Only they can transfer ownership to someone else
If their Workspace account is deleted, owned files may be deleted too (depending on admin settings)

How to Transfer Ownership

For individual files:

Open the file's sharing settings (right-click > Share)
Find the current owner
Click the dropdown next to their name
Select "Transfer ownership"
Enter the new owner's email
The new owner must accept the transfer via email

For Google Workspace admins (bulk transfer):

Go to admin.google.com
Navigate to Apps > Google Workspace > Drive and Docs > Transfer ownership
Enter the current owner's email and the new owner's email
Select "Transfer" to move all files at once

Important timing: Transfer ownership BEFORE the account is suspended or deleted. Once an account is gone, transferring ownership becomes much harder and may require Google support for Workspace accounts.

What to Transfer

Prioritize transferring:

Files critical to ongoing projects
Documents with historical importance (contracts, records)
Anything that would be hard to recreate
Files that are actively shared with clients or partners

Don't worry about transferring:

Personal files (photos, personal documents)
Drafts and abandoned work
Duplicates of files that exist elsewhere

Step 1: Find Everything They Can Access

You can't remove access you don't know about. Start by finding every file shared with the departing person.

Search for Direct Shares

In Google Drive, search:

to:employee@company.com

This shows all files shared with their work email. Note: This only finds files shared after February 2021. For older shares, you'll need to check folders manually or use a scanning tool.

If they used a personal email, search that too:

to:employee@gmail.com

Check Shared Folders

Folder access is sneaky—it grants access to everything inside. Check your major shared folders:

Right-click each important folder
Select "Share"
Look for their email in the access list

If they're on a folder, they can access all contents even if not listed on individual files.

Review Shared Drives (Workspace)

For each Shared Drive they might be a member of:

Right-click the Shared Drive name
Select "Manage members"
Check if they're a member

Shared Drive membership grants access to all files in that drive.

Don't Forget "Anyone With Link" Files

Files they created with "anyone with the link" enabled are still accessible to them (and everyone else who has the link). Search:

owner:employee@company.com sharedwith:public

These links work forever unless you change the sharing settings on each file.

The Faster Way: Use Overdrive

The manual search process above works but takes time and misses things. You have to search multiple email addresses, check folders individually, review each Shared Drive, and hope you don't forget anything.

Overdrive shows you every file a specific user can access in about two minutes—across all folders, all Shared Drives, all sharing methods. Run a free scan before offboarding to make sure you catch everything, then remove their access with confidence.

For more on finding shared files, see How to Find All Externally Shared Files in Google Drive.

Step 2: Remove Access From Individual Files

Once you've found everything, start removing access.

Removing Access One File at a Time

Right-click the file
Select "Share"
Find their email in the list
Click the dropdown next to their name
Select "Remove access"

This works but doesn't scale well if they have access to hundreds of files.

What Happens When You Remove Access

When you remove someone's access:

They immediately lose the ability to open the file
If they have the file open in their browser, they'll be blocked on their next action
They receive no notification that access was revoked
The file disappears from their "Shared with me" view
Any bookmarks or shortcuts they have to the file stop working
Downloaded copies on their devices still work (you can't revoke local copies)

That last point is important: you can't un-download a file. If they've copied files locally before you revoked access, those copies persist. This is why timely offboarding matters—the sooner you revoke access, the less time they have to download.

Step 3: Remove Access From Folders

Removing access at the folder level is more efficient and catches files you might miss individually.

How Folder Removal Works

When you remove someone from a folder:

They lose access to the folder and all contents
Files inside that were shared with them individually (separate from the folder) are NOT affected
Subfolders and their contents follow the parent folder's change

Step-by-Step Folder Removal

Right-click the folder
Select "Share"
Find their email
Click the dropdown and select "Remove access"

Check for Individual File Shares Inside

After removing folder access, search for files inside that folder that might have individual sharing:

"folder name" to:employee@company.com

If you find files, remove access from those separately.

Step 4: Remove From Shared Drives (Workspace)

Shared Drives require separate handling from "My Drive" content.

Remove Shared Drive Membership

Right-click the Shared Drive
Select "Manage members"
Find their email
Click the X or "Remove" next to their name
Confirm removal

This removes access to everything in that Shared Drive.

Check Their Permission Level First

Before removing, note their permission level:

Manager: They could have changed permissions on files or added other members
Content Manager: They could have moved or deleted files
Contributor: They could have added and edited files
Commenter/Viewer: No content changes possible

If they were a Manager, audit what changes they might have made—they could have shared files externally or given access to others you don't know about.

Step 5: Handle "Anyone With Link" Files They Created

Files the departing person set to "anyone with the link" remain accessible to anyone with the URL, including them.

Find Their Link-Shared Files

Search:

owner:employee@company.com visibility:anyoneWithLink

Decide for Each File

For each result:

Needs to stay link-shared: Transfer ownership first, then decide if link sharing is still appropriate
Should be restricted: Transfer ownership, then change "General access" to "Restricted"
Should be deleted: Transfer ownership (if the file is needed), then delete

Transfer Ownership First

You can't change sharing settings on files you don't own. Either:

Have them change the settings before they leave
Transfer ownership to someone who can change settings
Have a Workspace admin make changes (admins have elevated permissions)

The Complete Offboarding Checklist

Use this checklist when someone leaves your organization.

Before Last Day

Identify critical files they own that need to be transferred
Transfer ownership of needed files to appropriate team members
Have them document any files/folders others might need
(Optional) Run an Overdrive scan to see everything they can access

On Last Day

Search to:employee@company.com and record all shared files
Search personal email if known: to:employee@gmail.com
Check membership in all relevant Shared Drives
Review major shared folders for their access

Access Removal

Remove from all Shared Drives
Remove from all shared folders (starting with top-level)
Remove from individual files not covered by folders
Address "anyone with link" files they created

After Removal

Verify removal by searching again for shares to their email (should return no results)
Document what was removed and when
Update any shared passwords or credentials they knew
Review any external services they had access to

Account Actions (Workspace Admin)

Suspend the user account (preserves data while blocking access)
Set up email forwarding/delegation if needed for transition
Transfer remaining file ownership
Remove from Google Groups
Delete account when appropriate (after data preservation)

Bulk Removal Methods

Removing access file-by-file doesn't scale. Here are faster approaches.

Method 1: Focus on Folders First

Instead of removing access to 200 files, find the 10 folders that contain them. Removing folder access is one action that affects all contents.

Method 2: Use Google Apps Script (Technical)

For technical users, Apps Script can automate removal:

function removeUserAccess() {
  var userToRemove = 'employee@company.com';
  var files = DriveApp.searchFiles('to:' + userToRemove);
  
  while (files.hasNext()) {
    var file = files.next();
    try {
      file.revokePermissions(userToRemove);
      Logger.log('Removed access: ' + file.getName());
    } catch (e) {
      Logger.log('Could not remove: ' + file.getName() + ' - ' + e.message);
    }
  }
}

This script finds all files shared with the specified user and removes their access. Run it from script.google.com connected to your Drive.

Caution: Test on a small set first. You can't undo bulk removal easily.

Method 3: Workspace Admin Console

Admins have additional powers:

Transfer all file ownership before account deletion
Suspend/delete the account (removes their ability to access via that email)
Use third-party tools integrated with Workspace for bulk operations

Special Cases

They Used Multiple Email Addresses

Many people access files through multiple emails—work, personal, maybe a second personal account. Search for all known emails:

to:work@company.com
to:personal@gmail.com
to:other@email.com

They Were in Google Groups

If files were shared with a Google Group they belong to, removing them from the Group also removes their access to Group-shared files.

Check Groups membership in Admin Console or groups.google.com.

They Created Files in Their Personal Drive

Files they created in their personal Drive (not your Workspace) and shared with you are theirs. When they leave:

They still own those files
They could unshare them at any time
You should copy any important files to your own Drive for safety

Contractor With Their Own Workspace

Contractors often use their own company's Google Workspace. Files shared with them are in your Drive, but you can't see or control what they've downloaded or copied to their own Drive.

For sensitive projects, consider:

Using Shared Drives where your org retains ownership
Having contracts that address data handling and return
Watermarking sensitive documents

Timing Matters

When you revoke access affects your security:

Timing	Risk Level	Recommendation
Same day as departure	Low	Ideal for all situations
Within 1 week	Medium	Acceptable for friendly departures
Weeks later	High	Significant download/copy risk
Never	Critical	Ongoing unauthorized access

For sensitive roles (finance, HR, executives, IT, anyone with access to confidential data), same-day removal is essential. For others, aim for same-day but within a week at most.

Documenting the Offboarding

Keep records of what you did. This matters for:

Compliance requirements (SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, etc.)
Audit trails
Legal protection
Future reference

Document:

Date of access removal
Who performed the removal
What access was removed (summary)
Any files transferred and to whom
Any unusual findings (sensitive files with broad access, etc.)

Frequently Asked Questions

Will they get notified when I remove their access?

No. Google Drive doesn't send notifications when access is revoked. The file simply becomes inaccessible next time they try to open it. There's no "you've been removed" email.

What if they're the owner of files I need?

Transfer ownership before removing access. If their account is still active, you can request ownership transfer. If the account is suspended/deleted, Workspace admins can transfer ownership of Workspace-account files via the Admin Console.

Can they still access files in their browser cache?

No. Browser cache doesn't help them. Google Drive files are accessed from Google's servers each time. When you remove access, the next time they try to load the file (even if it appears "cached"), they'll be blocked. The file content isn't stored locally in a usable way.

What about Google Docs they exported to PDF or Word?

Downloaded copies are outside your control. You can't revoke access to a file someone has saved locally. This is why prompt offboarding matters—minimize the window for downloading.

Should I change file links they might have saved?

You can't change existing file URLs in Google Drive. But if you change a file from "anyone with the link" to "restricted," the old link becomes useless—it still points to the file but won't grant access without explicit permission.

What if I accidentally remove the wrong person's access?

You can re-add access using their email address. There's no "undo" button, but re-adding them achieves the same result. They won't be notified of either the removal or re-addition.

Keep Reading

The Complete Google Drive Security Audit Checklist — Full framework for Drive security including regular audits
Who Has Access to Your Google Drive? Here's How to Find Out — Understanding permission levels and access visibility