Creating a new workspace with a domain name that is currently linked to another workspace

[MagaliBongrand]

Good morning, Our current workspace is set up for 2 brands and 2 domain names (all members have emails with the 2 domain names). We need to split them and have a separate workspace for each domain name and move all the data from the drive of one to the other. How do I create a workspace with a domain that is already attached to another workspace? How to transfer the data (email and drive)?

[StephenHind · Accepted solution]

@MagaliBongrand in short you cannot.  Your only option is to make a new Google Workspace with a temporary domain, do a migration (which means copies from Drive, not the originals), and then remove the domain from the original Workspace and then add it to the new Workspace.

Google does not offer anyway to gracefully split: it'a all manual and hard work.

[KAM · Accepted solution]

@MagaliBongrand Adding one note to @StephenHind excellent overview that depending on the amount of data, if your existing data can be move to a shared drive on the new instance, you will avoid creating new copies and the links will remain the same.  

But overall, yes, this is a migration not a simple task. -KAM

[StephenHind · Accepted solution]

@KAM @MagaliBongrand  you can only move files across Google Workspaces, not folders, hence why I don't suggest using Shared Drives as you have to completely recreate the folder structure.

You can script it, or use third-party tools, to help recreate the folder structure but that's not using purely the Workspace interface.

[StephenHind · Accepted solution]

@MagaliBongrand in short you cannot.  Your only option is to make a new Google Workspace with a temporary domain, do a migration (which means copies from Drive, not the originals), and then remove the domain from the original Workspace and then add it to the new Workspace.

Google does not offer anyway to gracefully split: it'a all manual and hard work.

[KAM · Accepted solution]

@MagaliBongrand Adding one note to @StephenHind excellent overview that depending on the amount of data, if your existing data can be move to a shared drive on the new instance, you will avoid creating new copies and the links will remain the same.  

But overall, yes, this is a migration not a simple task. -KAM

[StephenHind · Accepted solution]

@KAM @MagaliBongrand  you can only move files across Google Workspaces, not folders, hence why I don't suggest using Shared Drives as you have to completely recreate the folder structure.

You can script it, or use third-party tools, to help recreate the folder structure but that's not using purely the Workspace interface.

[KAM · Accepted solution]

@StephenHind I thought the moving folders issue was fixed? support.google.com/a/answer/7374057?hl=en  I know I've done it in certain cases and had to temporarily elevate privs by creating a landing zone folder.  Starting to worry that was just for My Drive data though.  -KAM

[StephenHind]

@KAM I stand corrected! This does appear to have changed (that's only a good thing and I wonder when?).  I have just tested transferring:

1. As an Workspace Super Admin
   1. From an internal Shared Drive to an External Shared Drive (I thought this would be the catch and the only an admin would need to do it)
   2. From My Drive to an External Shared Drive
      
      
2. As a non-admin
   1. From My Drive to an External Shared Drive

They all worked!  You need to be the owner of the files, obviously.

The migrating folders internally has been available for ages (admin only, first), but migrating folders between domains were never available until whenever that changed (a longer-than-necessary bit of research found a buried announcement in March 31, 2023, so I'm assuming it was then the intra-domain transfers were allowed).