What Google Drive for desktop is and how to use it

Google Drive for desktop is Google’s official app that brings your Google Drive files to Windows and macOS computers: you work with them from File Explorer or Finder as if they were on your computer, and the app automatically syncs them with the cloud.

Cloud services have become more and more popular. The big advantage of working with files hosted in the cloud is that they can easily be shared with other users. The whole team can view or even edit the same document at the same time.

Two of the main players in cloud services are Microsoft (through OneDrive and SharePoint, included in Microsoft 365) and Google (through Google Drive, part of Google Workspace, as G Suite has been called since 2020).

How did Google Drive for desktop come about?

On July 12, 2021, Google announced the Google Drive for desktop app, which makes it easier to upload files to the cloud and sync them across all your devices.

The app replaced the Backup and Sync and Drive File Stream apps, to deliver the whole experience through a single app. It also makes it easy to upload and sync photos and videos to Google Drive and Google Photos.

The transition plan was as follows:

• starting July 19, 2021, Backup and Sync users were prompted to switch to the new solution by following the steps shown in the app;
• the switch had to be completed by October 1, 2021, after which Backup and Sync users could no longer log in to the app.

If a computer still has Backup and Sync installed, the app is no longer supported by Google: uninstall it and install Google Drive for desktop.

How does Google Drive for desktop work?

The app installs on Windows and macOS and lets you choose how the files in “My Drive” reach your computer, as Google’s guide to Drive for desktop also explains:

• Streaming: files stay in the cloud and are downloaded only when you open them. On Windows, they appear as a separate drive (usually G:), and on a Mac, as a location in Finder. They take up little disk space, and you can make the files you need without internet available offline.
• Mirroring: files are also copied in full to your computer. You always have them offline, but they take up as much space as they do in the cloud.

In addition, you can choose folders on your computer (for example Desktop or Documents) that the app automatically uploads to Google Drive, and photos to Google Photos as well.

Be careful: syncing is not a backup. If a file is deleted or encrypted by ransomware on your computer, the change reaches the cloud too. For important data, you need a separate copy, for example through Backup as a Service.

If you use Google’s cloud services and need support setting up the app on your company’s computers, or even replacing your current solution with another one, RezolvIT is the partner you can trust.

Managed private cloud: tell me more →

Some of the benefits of using cloud services

Since we’re talking about cloud solutions, let us also walk you through some of the benefits of these technologies:

No more worrying about hardware failures. Your files are hosted on the provider’s infrastructure, not on a server in the office, so they no longer depend on whether “the server breaks down.” Cloud services also have outages sometimes, but they’re rare and the provider fixes them.

Files can be accessed and edited by several people at the same time, which is hard to do if you work locally and share data through Windows.

Files hosted in the cloud can be shared very easily with other users, based on their email address. You don’t need to ask IT to set up access. That’s exactly why the company’s Google Workspace administrator should decide who is allowed to share files outside the company.

Files can be accessed from anywhere, using the app, a mobile phone or a web browser.

With the versioning feature, you can go back to an earlier version of an edited file or find out which user changed it. Even so, versioning will never replace a high-performance managed backup solution.

IT services for companies: tell me more →

RezolvIT provides IT outsourcing and is used to implementing cloud technologies and making it easier for companies’ employees to work from home. Through IT maintenance, we configure and maintain apps such as Google Drive for desktop on your company’s computers. If you’d like to enjoy the benefits of cloud solutions too, don’t hesitate to contact us.