How can I transfer ownership of a file in Google Drive that isn't part of Docs?

Question

I'm trying to find a way to transfer ownership of a file in Google Drive to another user. I can share a file with another user, but I can't find a way to transfer ownership of the file. There seem to be solutions out there for Google Docs, Sheets and Slides, but not for normal files like .mp4 or .mov.

Ownership of the file matters for a few reasons, one of them being that the file is counted against the quota of the owner of the file.

Answer 1

There doesn't seem to be a way to do this, but I have found a workaround. Let's say A wants to transfer ownership of a file to B.

1. A shares the file with B.
2. B logs in, and makes a copy of the file by right-clicking on the file, and clicking "make a copy".
3. A or B can now delete the original file.
4. The new file can be renamed to be the same name as the original file. The new file also needs to be shared with A.

Any links to the old file will not point to the new file, unfortunately.

Answer 2

The method of cross-domain transfer with preserving file IDs using Google Shared Folders is well described here.

Summary:

1. Setup Google Shared Drive.
2. Neutralize ownership in Shared Drive.
3. Assign new ownership.

If you do not have access to Google Workspace (former G Suite), you can use my utility published on the Google Workspace Marketplace and also available here as a web application.