Can I move Dropbox to Google Drive for free?

Yes, if you do it by hand: download from Dropbox and upload to Google Drive, or let the two desktop apps copy the files through your computer. It costs time and disk space instead of money. Google Workspace admins can also use Google's own Data Migration service for Dropbox business accounts, which comes with Workspace at no separate listed price.

Is there a limit on how much I can upload to Google Drive in a day?

Yes. Each Google account can upload and copy 750 GB within 24 hours. Once it reaches that, it can't upload more until the limit refreshes. The limit applies to every method, so a 2 TB move takes at least three days whichever way you do it.

Do my folders stay the same?

With the desktop apps, Google's migration service and this2that, yes: the folder structure is recreated in Google Drive. If you download from dropbox.com and upload by hand, folders come down as zip files that you unzip before uploading, so the structure survives as long as you upload the unzipped folders.

What happens to Dropbox Paper docs?

None of the methods moves them as Paper docs. Dropbox lets you export each one as a .docx, .md or .pdf file, which you can then upload to Google Drive. this2that lists Paper docs in its report as needing attention, so you know which ones to export.

Does moving to Google Drive delete anything from Dropbox?

No. Every method here copies files. Your Dropbox stays as it was until you delete it yourself, which is the safe order: copy, check, then cancel.

How to move Dropbox to Google Drive

Four ways to get your files from Dropbox into Google Drive, from free and manual to fully hands-off, with the steps for each and the limits nobody mentions until you hit them.

Rather skip the manual steps? this2that moves Dropbox into Google Drive, cloud to cloud. The first 5 GB or 200 files are free.

See how it works→

Four ways to move Dropbox to Google Drive: download and re-upload, the desktop apps, Google's migration service for admins, and a cloud-to-cloud tool

Before you start

Know the size. Check how much you store in Dropbox, then make sure your Google account or Workspace plan has that much free space.
Decide where it lands. Personal files go to My Drive. Folders a team works in are usually better in a shared drive, which belongs to the organization rather than to one person. More on that in moving a team folder into a shared drive.
Find your Paper docs. Dropbox Paper docs don't move as files with any method. Plan to export them (see what doesn't move).
Mind the daily cap. Google Drive accepts 750 GB per account in 24 hours. Anything bigger takes more than a day, whichever method you use.

Method 1: Download from Dropbox, upload to Google Drive

Free, needs nothing installed, and fine for a few folders.

On dropbox.com, select a folder and choose Download. Dropbox zips it.
Unzip the download on your computer.
On drive.google.com, open the folder where the files should go, choose New, then Folder upload, and pick the unzipped folder.
Repeat for each folder, then spot-check a few files in Drive.

The limits: Dropbox only zips a folder that is smaller than 250 GB and holds fewer than 10,000 files, counting everything inside. Every byte crosses your internet connection twice, down and then up, and the browser tab has to stay open while it uploads. Beyond a few gigabytes this gets slow and error-prone.

Method 2: The Dropbox and Google Drive desktop apps

Free, keeps your folders, and copes with more files, if one computer has room for all of it.

Install the Dropbox desktop app and Google Drive for desktop, and sign in to both.
In Dropbox, make the folders you want to move available offline, so the files are actually on your computer and not just placeholders.
Wait for Dropbox to finish downloading them.
Copy the folders from your Dropbox folder into your Google Drive folder. Drive for desktop uploads them in the background.
Leave the computer on and online until Drive for desktop says everything is up to date.

The limits: you need free disk space for everything you move, and the upload runs at your home or office upload speed. Google notes that shared drives can only be streamed, not mirrored, and that with Drive for desktop you can't move a folder from My Drive into a shared drive, so copy straight into the shared drive if that's where the files belong.

Method 3: Google's Data Migration service (Workspace admins)

Generally available since January 2026, Google Workspace has a built-in migration for Dropbox. It's run from the Google Admin console and copies from a Dropbox business account: personal folders into each person's My Drive and team folders into shared drives, with sharing permissions mapped across.

A Google super administrator has to set it up and run it, with a Dropbox team admin helping.
Every person needs a Workspace account, and the shared drives for team folders need to exist first.
One run covers up to 150 Dropbox personal or team folders; more need another run.
Paper docs and earlier file versions don't migrate: only the latest version of each file does.

If you run Google Workspace for a whole company leaving a Dropbox business plan, start here: it comes with Workspace at no separate listed price, and it carries permissions. It's not an option for personal Dropbox accounts or for anyone who isn't the Workspace admin.

Try it now

Not the admin, or not on a business plan?

this2that moves your own Dropbox into your Google Drive or a shared drive, cloud to cloud. The first 5 GB or 200 files are free.

See how it works→

Method 4: this2that, cloud to cloud

This is the tool we make, so weigh this section accordingly. It copies from Dropbox straight to Google Drive, cloud to cloud, so nothing passes through your computer and you can close the tab while it runs.

Open Dropbox to Google Drive, sign in with the Google account the files should go to, and connect Dropbox. We ask Dropbox for read access only, so nothing in your Dropbox can be changed or deleted.
On the left, tick the folders and files you want. On the right, open the Google Drive folder they should land in: My Drive, any folder in it, or a shared drive.
Press the arrow. The move counts the files, then starts by itself.
Come back whenever you like. Each move shows its progress, and its report (a CSV) lists every file that moved, was skipped or failed, with the reason.

The first 5 GB or 200 files move free, once per person: if a second this2that account connects the same Dropbox, it shares the same free allowance. After that you buy a one-time pack for the size you move, $99 for 500 GB up to $499 for 7 TB, and packs stack for bigger moves. When Google's 750 GB daily cap is reached the move pauses and carries on by itself the next day. Failed files can be retried, and for 30 days after a move finishes a catch-up pass copies only what's new or changed in Dropbox since.

Which method should you use?

A few folders, a few gigabytes: download and re-upload.
Up to a few hundred gigabytes, and a computer with room for it: the desktop apps.
You're the Workspace admin and the company is on a Dropbox business plan: Google's Data Migration service.
Large, or you just want it done without babysitting a computer: a cloud-to-cloud tool such as this2that. More options compared in every way to move Dropbox to Google Drive.

After the move

Compare file counts and spot-check folders you know well.
Export your Paper docs and upload them.
Share folders again in Google Drive: sharing in Dropbox doesn't come across with most methods.
Replace Dropbox links in documents, bookmarks and your website with Google Drive links.
Keep Dropbox until you're sure nothing is missing. Our switch-over checklist walks through the week before and after.