How to see which Google Drive Files are Owned by Suspended Accounts

You can see if a file is owned by a suspended account in a few ways. When viewing the file list, there will be a grayed out icon next to the name in the “Shared by” column. When you open a file owned by a suspended account it will have a “The file is view-only” banner across the top as well as a red DELETION PENDING label next to the file name.

You can search for all files owned by a specific suspended account using “owner:user@oxy.edu” in the Google Drive search bar. Alternatively you can do an Advanced search and enter “Deletion Pending” as the Label

If you see a file owner whose profile picture is light gray with a line through it, that account has been disabled.

While you can not change the ownership of a file, if you make a copy you will become the owner of that new file. You can then organize the file as you like, including moving it to a Shared Drive. Please note that reorganizing shared files inside of your Drive does not change file ownership. Only moving to a Shared Drive changes ownership. Ownership changes must be made at the file and not folder level.

Please make a plan to review your “DELETION PENDING” files before March 17, 2025. We will begin deleting older Google mailboxes at that time and recovery of these files may not be possible after that date.