How to Clone Google Workspace User Account?

It administrators and organizations frequently clone the Google Workspace user account for user management. The reasons behind this are when an employee leaves, a new hire needs to access the past data, a domain is rebranded, and many other cases.

Cloning the account allows to replicate of users’ data from one account to another without disturbing the business operation. Therefore, in this article, I will explain how to clone a Google Workspace user account using several methods without any data loss.

But before that, you must understand what cloning means. When an admin clones one’s Google Workspace account, it means that they are copying the data from a source user to a destination user while preserving the original structure, hierarchy, and permissions. In this, these data that are cloned:

• Gmail: emails, labels, attachments, read/unread status
• Google Drive: my Drive files, folders, shared Drive data, permissions
• Calendar: events, reminders, and shared calendars
• Contacts: personal and directory contacts.

And some data like user passwords, Two-factor authentication (2FA) settings, device & security policies, and Audit & activity logs.

Unfortunately, Google Workspace does not facilitate a native clone user option. So, in order to do that, they have to rely on indirect options.

Scenarios Where You Need to Clone a Google Workspace User

Before the procedure, it is important to understand the situations in which you need to replicate the G Suite account. Below are the common cases.

• When an employee leaves, a new one is hired in his place. Here, you have to move your historical data to the new employee.
• The organization is changing its domain or rebranding. Here, they need to copy the old data of a user to the new domain.
• There is always a risk of accidental account deletion or corruption. For this reason, users clone the Google Workspace account to restore the data.
• Replicate the data across multiple users or teams when the department ID is restructured.
• For audits or investigations, they preserve the user data, which is very helpful for them.

These are the common scenarios where one has to replicate the G Suite data. But simply going through the methods without any preparations is not ideal. You must first follow the prerequisites.

Pre-requisites Before Cloning Google Workspace Account

First, follow these steps, and then the methods.

• You must have Super Admin access to the Google Workspace.
• Properly created source and destination user accounts, and also licensed.
• Enabled the required Google APIs
• Leave sufficient storage in the destination account.
• Make sure you clearly know what data needs to be cloned or not.

It is important to prepare these items in advance to reduce errors and interruptions while you are following the methods.

Manually Clone Google Workspace User Account

G Suite has built-in options that can help you move your data. Methods like Google Data Export Tool, Google Takeout, drive ownership transfer, and email forwarding. I will explain each method with proper steps.

Transfer Google Drive Ownership

If you want to copy the user Drive files and folders, move the data with the ownership.

1. Log in to the Google Admin Console using Super admin.
2. Go to the Apps and then Google Workspace and the Drive & Docs.
3. Select the Transfer ownership.
4. Enter the source user’s email address and the destination email address.
5. Then, click on transfer files.

It is important to transfer the ownership of the data for editing and sharing.

Google Data Export Tool to Clone Google Workspace User Account

The export of user data is to backup the data or for compliance purposes. This can also be used to replicate the account.

1. In the Google Admin Console.
2. Navigate to the Tools and then the Data Export option.
3. Select the source user and choose the required services.
4. Begin the export process and download the data.
5. This way, you can easily copy the mailbox, Drive files, calendar, and contacts data.

Use the Google Takeout Option

Takeout is the Google tool to export the Google data. This method allows you to move all the data of the user, which you can then import into a new user.

1. Log in to Google Takeout and then click on the Deselect button.
2. Choose the option that you want to download. Scroll down and click on the Next Step button.
3. Choose the destination, file, and size. Then, click on the export option.
4. You will get the ZIP file of the downloaded data. Extract it and share it with a new account.

These methods are used to move the data from the old user account to the new account. They will help you clone the Gogoel Workspace user account. You may have a problem with it, which I have mentioned below.

Limitations of Manual Cloning

• While the methods are free, there is a high risk of missing emails or files.
• It is not suitable to clone multiple users or large environments.
• These methods have a huge risk of security of the organization.

Hence, for a small business, you can use the manual methods, but for large organizations, you need a more reliable solution.

Alternative Way to Clone Google Workspace User Data

To properly copy your old user data, use Google Workspace Migrator, recommended by SysTools. An easy solution to move your complete G Suite data to another account without any issues. This is a safe solution as it can easily move multiple data points without any issues. To know how it works, follow the steps below.

Instructions for the Software

1. Download the software and then choose the G Suite option as a source and destination.
2. Provide the details of both the source and destination accounts and click on the Validate button.
3. Now, add the users by fetching the user or manually importing them.
4. After that, click on the Start Migration button.

Conclusion

If you want to know how to clone a Google Workspace user account. This article explains the various ways to replicate a G Suite account by moving the data. I have provided manual and professional methods that you can use to migrate G Suite data to another account. All the ways will be easy to use, but make sure you know the limitations to use.