Alumni Restoration of Google Drive Folders & Files

For SUNY Oswego Alumni - A procedure on how to recover files from your former Oswego account which CTS provides to you upon Request.

Overview

Purpose: For an Alumni Account that needs DRIVE Data to be restored to them, the following procedures will be performed by CTS after a request has been entered into our ticket system.

Instructions

1. CTS will share a folder with your personal Gmail account upon a request being entered into our ticket system.
   Please note that it is crucial to provide us with a personal Gmail account only, as this procedure cannot be performed with another provider such as Yahoo, etc. 
   If you do not have an actual personal Gmail account, please create one to be used for this purpose
    
2. Go to drive.google.com while logged in with your personal Gmail account.
    
3. Click on the Shared With Me Option on the LEFT Sidebar.
    
4. You will see a folder that will have your SUNY Oswego email address listed as the folder name and it will indicate it’s been shared to you.
   1. This folder will come from “cts-migrate@oswego.edu” 
      
5. When you go into the folder that was shared with you via the Web Google Drive, you will see a list of files (and potentially folders) available to you that you can download.  
   NOTE:  You will also see “greyed” files with a shortcut-style link on them. These files are not owned by your account but were only shared with you previously for collaboration purposes. Example below:
   
   You can only view these files through the web Google Drive. However, you can make a copy of them to your account which you can then download.

There are two methods you can use to download the files available to you.

Option #1: Through the Web Google Drive

1. If the number of files and/or folders is manageable, you can highlight them all in the Google Drive Browser window.  
    
2. You will have to uncheck any that are “linked” files - you cannot download those!  
    
3. Once you have everything highlighted that you want, click the Download button on the bar at the top:
   
4. Google will process these files into a ZIP file (or possibly multiple zip files) that you can download to your computer and then extract.

Option #2: Using Google Drive for Desktop

1. The second option is to make use of the Google Drive application which you can install onto your Mac or Windows PC.
   1. You can download the installer here: https://support.google.com/drive/answer/10838124?hl=en
   2. Be sure to log in with your personal Gmail address only!
       
2. When you install Google Drive for Desktop, it will create a “Drive” that you can access on your Mac or Windows Computer through Finder or Explorer, respectively. 
3. Before the files will be available to you from the shared account, you must do the following steps:
   1. In the Web Google Drive, click on the Shared with Me folder. You will see that shared folder from “cts-migrate@oswego.edu”
   2. Right-click on the folder and then click “Organize” and then click on “Add Shortcut” and tell it to add to “My Drive".
      
   3. This will create a folder shortcut in your “MY DRIVE”, which the Google Drive Application does have access to view/edit.
       
4. In the Finder or Explorer window - you can click into the Google Drive, and it will show you the files and folders available to you.
   
    
5. Go into that folder and simply copy out all the files you want to save to your own Hard Drive, USB, etc.
   1. Note that you will not be able to copy over linked / “shortcut” files unless you first make a copy of that file for yourself through the Web Google Drive.

Please note:  You will not be able to delete any files from this shared drive.

Need Help?

Need additional information or assistance? Contact CTS.