GUIDE · April 2, 2026 · 8 min read

How to Migrate Google Drive to SharePoint in 2026

Moving from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365? One of the biggest challenges is migrating your files from Google Drive (or Shared Drives) to SharePoint Online. Whether you're an IT admin managing a company-wide transition or an MSP handling client migrations, this guide covers everything you need to know.

Why Migrate from Google Drive to SharePoint?

Organizations switch from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365 for several reasons:

• Consolidation — merging two platforms after an acquisition or business decision
• Compliance — Microsoft 365 offers more granular compliance and retention policies
• Integration — tighter integration with Teams, Outlook, and the Microsoft ecosystem
• Cost — optimizing licensing costs by standardizing on one platform

What You Need Before Starting

Before beginning your migration, make sure you have:

1. Google Workspace admin access — or a Google service account with Domain-Wide Delegation enabled
2. Microsoft 365 admin access — with an Azure AD app registration that has Sites.ReadWrite.All and Files.ReadWrite.All permissions
3. SharePoint sites created — the destination sites and document libraries should exist before migration
4. A migration tool — like MigrationFox that supports both platforms

Step 1: Connect Your Cloud Accounts

In MigrationFox, create a project for your migration and add two credentials:

• Source: Google Drive — connect via OAuth or service account
• Destination: SharePoint — connect via Microsoft OAuth (admin consent required)

Both credentials are validated automatically. MigrationFox tests the connection and confirms the permissions are sufficient before you proceed.

Step 2: Run a Discovery Scan

Before migrating, run a discovery scan to understand your data:

• Total file count and size
• Folder structure depth
• File types (Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides are automatically exported to .docx, .xlsx, .pptx)
• Permissions and sharing settings

The discovery scan gives you a pre-migration report so you can plan your approach. MigrationFox scans 28,000+ files in under 7 minutes using parallel folder traversal.

Step 3: Configure Your Migration

Create a new migration job with these settings:

• Source: Select your Google Drive credential and browse to the Shared Drive or folder
• Destination: Select your SharePoint credential and choose the site + document library
• Mode: COPY (keeps source intact) or MOVE (deletes from source after transfer)
• Concurrency: 10 parallel transfers is a good starting point
• Permissions: Enable "Migrate permissions" to preserve sharing settings
• Exclude types: Optionally exclude file types like *.tmp, *.log, or *.dll

Step 4: Run the Migration

Click "Start Migration" and MigrationFox handles the rest:

1. Scanning — discovers all files and folders from the source
2. Auto-split — jobs with 1,000+ files are automatically split into 3 concurrent partitions for maximum speed
3. Transfer — files stream directly from Google Drive to SharePoint (no intermediate storage)
4. Verification — MD5 checksums verify file integrity after transfer

You can monitor progress in real-time with live file counts, speed, and ETA.

Handling Google Workspace Files

Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides don't have a traditional file format — they exist only in Google's cloud. MigrationFox automatically exports them:

• Google Docs → .docx (Microsoft Word)
• Google Sheets → .xlsx (Microsoft Excel)
• Google Slides → .pptx (Microsoft PowerPoint)
• Google Drawings → .pdf

The export happens automatically during transfer. No manual conversion needed.

Large-Scale Migrations (10,000+ Files)

For large migrations, MigrationFox uses auto-split technology to maximize throughput:

• Jobs with 1,000+ files are automatically split into 3 parallel partitions
• Each partition runs concurrently, using all available worker capacity
• Folders are scanned in parallel (8 concurrent folder traversals)
• Transfer speeds reach up to 9.2 MB/s with 30 concurrent file streams

In our testing, 1,014 files (1 GB) completed in just 3 minutes. A 64,000-file migration (9.1 GB) completed with a 99.95% success rate.

Common Issues and Solutions

Rate Limiting (429 Errors)

Both Google and Microsoft have API rate limits. MigrationFox handles these automatically with exponential backoff and jitter. If you see many 429 warnings, reduce concurrency to 5.

Permission Mapping

Google Drive permissions (Viewer, Commenter, Editor) map to SharePoint permissions (Read, Contribute, Edit). Owner permissions cannot be transferred — the destination site admin retains ownership.

File Name Restrictions

SharePoint has stricter file name rules than Google Drive. MigrationFox automatically sanitizes file names that contain characters like # % & or exceed the 400-character path limit.

After the Migration

Once complete, MigrationFox provides:

• CSV report — detailed list of every file with status, size, and destination path
• HTML report — printable summary with statistics and error breakdown
• Retry failed — one-click retry for any files that failed (usually due to rate limits)
• Delta sync — run the migration again in DELTA mode to catch only files modified since the last run

Get Started

Ready to migrate? Sign up for free — you get 5 GB of transfer credits with no credit card required. Run a discovery scan to see your data, then start your migration.

Need help? Check our documentation or use the help widget in the app.