The invention relates to a method for operating a ground milling machine, in particular a road milling machine, a stabilizer, a recycler, a surface miner or the like, having an interchangeable milling drum, wherein the milling drum is equipped with a plurality of milling tools, in particular round shank picks, wherein the milling drum has a current state, wherein a control unit is provided for controlling at least one function of the ground milling machine, and wherein the milling drum has a characteristic feature or a characteristic feature is assigned to the milling drum. According to the invention, provision is made that at least one data set containing information on the current state of the milling drum is stored in a storage unit, in that the characteristic feature identifying the milling drum is assigned to the data set in the storage unit, and this data set is transmitted to a processing device.