How to Migrate Your iCloud Files to Google Workspace

There are a few ways to migrate your iCloud files to Google Workspace: you can do it on a mobile device or a desktop.

That said, you should consider what data you transfer, as Google Workspace is usually a corporate medium, while iCloud can contain some private images and documents. You should also remember that your Google Workspace account can be accessed by a Workspace administrator. 

The other thing to remember when transferring files from iCloud to Google Drive is the password for accounts on these platforms.

If you are one of those super organized, tech-savvy geniuses who have an encrypted password-saving app, skip to the algorithm below. However, if you have a Ph.D. in forgetting passwords, the below meme could be highly relatable. Long story short: get your passwords at hand when working on file transfer between the cloud storage solutions of Apple and Google products.

Why Transfer Files from iCloud to Google Drive?

The primary reason for shifting files from iCloud or Google Drive is trivial: your iCloud storage is used up, but you still have capacity on the GDrive.

Another possible reason could be that you need to share the heavier files with your colleagues who have access to the same corporate Google Drive. They are too heavy to send via email, but your entire team can easily collaborate on shared files on Google Drive.

You could also want to keep iCloud storage available for constantly produced video or photo content on your smartphone, but you would rather use Workspace Gigabytes for archiving the content you hardly access. In this case, it’s more of a storage optimization technique.

How to Transfer Files or Folders from iCloud to Google Workspace On Desktop

How to Download Files From iCloud.com to Google Drive

Follow these steps to download files stored in iCloud Drive or files that are accessible from iWork apps on iCloud.com:

1. Go to iCloud.com
   
2. Sign in to your account using iCloud credentials
3. Open iCloud Drive
   
4. Select the file(s) you need to download—the download icon at the top center will turn blue at this point.
5. Click this Download icon or double-click the file. The document will be saved to your pre-set location for downloaded files.
   
6. Now you can upload these files to Google Drive. Open your Workspace or Gmail account. Go to Google Apps in the top right corner
7. Click the Drive icon (the colorful triangle).
   
8. Click the New button in the left top corner.
   
9. Choose File upload or Folder upload from the drop-down menu, depending on what you need to transfer.
   
10. Find the file or folder you transferred from icloud.com in the Downloads folder or your default location for downloads. Upload this file to Google Drive by selecting it and confirming your choice by clicking the Upload button. 
    

Congrats! Your documents are now transferred from iCloud to Google Drive.

Migrate Your Files From iCloud Drive to Google Drive on Desktop

You can also start the transfer iCloud to Google Drive directly from the iCloud drive on your Mac through the Finder app. This process is very similar to the one described above, but users have even fewer steps to take.

To shift documents directly from one cloud storage drive to another, you need to repeat steps 6-10 described above, with the only exception, that the folder to open in step 10 will be not the Downloads, but the iCloud Drive, as in the picture below.

Migrate Files From the Files app on Your iPhone or iPad

First things first, you have to ensure you have a Google Drive app installed on your iPhone or iPad. If you have a few accounts, ensure you’re using the correct one to sign in, when installing the App from the App Store.

1. Open Google Drive on your iPhone.
2. Tap the + button in the right-bottom corner.
   
3. Press Upload.
   
4. Select Browse.
   
5. Tap the files and folders you need to migrate from iCloud to Google Drive. That’s it. The upload has been initiated and will take up to a minute depending on the internet connection speed and the file sizes.

How to Transfer iCloud Data to Google Drive on iPhone via iCloud.com

To perform this operation, a user needs to have the Google Drive application on their iPhone.

This is the tap-by-tap algorithm:

1. Download Photos that need transferring to your phone download app from icloud.com:
   • Go to icloud.com
   • Log in to your account
   • Go to Photos
   • Choose photos that need transferring by tapping on the select files (blue ticks appear in the circles in the bottom right corner of each file when it is selected).
   • Tap the three dots icon in the bottom right corner to trigger the drop-down menu with options.
   • Select Download function.
   • When prompted: “Do you want to download iCloud Photos.zip?”, click Download confirming your choice.
2. Other files can be stored in your iCloud Drive folder on icloud.com. This is how you download files from this location on your iPhone:
   • Go to iCloud.com
   • Log in to your account
   • Go to iCloud Drive this time
     
   • Choose the folder you want to shift docs from, for example, Downloads.
     
   • Choose the files you need to transfer by tapping Select in the top right corner—at this point, all files get a circle in the center.
   • When you tap on a file, this circle becomes a frame for a blue check mark. Tap as many files as you need to be transferred. 
   • Tap on the Download button in the bottom left corner [it looks like a cloud with a down arrow].
     
   • Confirm your choice by tapping Download, when the system seeks confirmation with a popup notification Do you want to download File XYZ?
     
3. Now that you have all of the photos and iCloud files downloaded to your iPhone, it’s time to shift them to Google Drive:
   • Open your Google Drive App.
   • Tap the “+” button in the bottom right corner
   • Tap Upload
   • Select Browse
   • Tap the file that needs transferring to start the download

Congrats! You have now added the file[s] to your Google Drive.

Conclusion

If you need to use Google Drive instead of iCloud, you can do it on a desktop as well as a mobile version. Armed with passwords for both services for easy access, it can be done via icloud.com or by accessing the files on your gadgets. 

Naturally, if you have a lot of heavy files to transfer, we recommend the desktop version over the phone migration.

FAQ

Is Google Drive free?

Google Drive provides up to 15 GB of free storage space with its free Gmail account for personal use. Google Workspace (former G Suite) is used for business access and it has a variety of pricing plans starting with $6 per month per user with 30GB storage.

Is Google Drive the same as iCloud?

No, they are different. Google Drive is a storage space provided as part of the Google Workspace experience by Google. iCloud is a cloud storage provided by Apple Inc. – that is available for Mac and iPhone users.

Where is Google Drive on my iPhone?

You can download a Google Drive application to your iPhone device by following this link. Users also need to sign up with their Gmail or Workspace account on their iPhones to use this application according to their pricing plan.