How to Use Google Drive for Desktop on Your Mac

Google Drive is among the greatest file-sharing instruments on the market, making it simpler than ever to share knowledge with others. You may share something starting from easy paperwork to bigger video information whereas utilizing the platform.

Google Drive additionally presents choices to combine your cloud storage and Mac storage. That is provided via the Google Drive desktop app for Mac, which lets you choose sure Google Drive folders to maintain saved in your Mac. At the moment we’ll cowl the best way to set up and use Google Drive for Desktop in your Mac.


Google Drive for Desktop

Google Drive means that you can share paperwork and information on-line. As Drive is built-in with the remainder of Google’s providers (Google Sheets, Google Docs, and so forth), you’ll be able to create, edit and share all the things instantly on-line, with out ever having to make use of a neighborhood app in your Mac.

Many individuals additionally depend on Google Drive for file backup and sync, which is the place Google Drive for Desktop is available in. The app means that you can sync your Google Drive folder along with your native Mac folders, conserving your information up to date.

Thus, you’ll be able to simply entry your Google Drive information instantly via Finder, eliminating the necessity for a browser. You may also work the opposite means round, transfering information out of your Mac to your Google Drive.

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The best way to Use Google Drive for Desktop

To start out utilizing Google Drive for desktop, ensure you have a Google account and that you’ve Google Drive arrange. Then comply with these steps:

  1. Obtain Google Drive for Desktop in your Mac from Google’s website.
  2. Set up the app, which takes up roughly 410MB in your Mac.
  3. When you’ve put in the app, you’ll be prompted to log in to your Drive account.
  4. After you’ve signed in, the app will robotically sync along with your account and be prepared to be used.

Google Drive will ask you for permission to entry your information in your storage drive. That is so it might create its personal community entry folder, which you’ll use to entry Google Drive instantly from Finder.


The best way to Entry Google Drive for Desktop

Should you simply wish to entry your Google Drive information, you are able to do so from the Google Drive folder in Finder’s sidebar. It will immediately provide you with entry to your Drive information, which you’ll be able to then open or use as desired.


Google Drive Access in Finder

If you wish to use the precise Google Drive app (to vary sure settings or test the sync standing), the quickest means to take action is from the menu bar. You’ll see a Drive icon, which provides you fast entry to the Google Drive folder situated in your Mac. It shows all just lately uploaded or up to date paperwork, lets you understand concerning the cloud sync standing, and in addition features a hyperlink to open Google Drive in your browser. You may also Pause Syncing at any time by clicking on the Settings icon if wanted.

You may entry the Google Drive app out of your Purposes folder (Finder > Purposes) or from Highlight.


Google Drive App from Menu Bar

Select Your Sync Methodology

Google Drive for Desktop syncs your Mac along with your Google Drive folder robotically. It is a steady course of that may preserve working within the background. You may all the time test the sync standing and just lately synced information from the Drive icon within the Menu Bar.

You’ll wish to select a sync methodology earlier than you correctly use the app. You may select to maintain your entire Google Drive information on the cloud and solely make choose gadgets obtainable offline (streaming information). This frees up storage in your Mac. Nonetheless, the draw back of it’s that information have to be streamed or downloaded from the web if you wish to use them. This may be troublesome should you don’t have an energetic web connection.


Google Drive Sync Options

The opposite choice is to avoid wasting a duplicate of all of your information each on Google Drive and your laptop (mirroring information). This primarily takes up double the storage quantity (information are being saved on each your Mac and Google Drive), however all the things is available domestically in your system.

You may entry these settings by urgent the Settings icon within the Google Drive icon within the Menu bar. Choose Settings adopted by Google Drive. Select your required sync methodology right here. Relying on the dimensions of your Google Drive folder, it might take a while for all of the information to totally sync and be obtainable in Finder.

Again Up Particular Folders on Your Mac

An alternative choice you will have is to again up a selected Mac folder to your Google Drive. Doing this lets you make a copy of your knowledge obtainable within the cloud, which you’ll be able to entry from one other laptop if it is advisable to.

Folders will be added from the Google Drive Preferences window. To entry this, choose My Mac within the Preferences pane, adopted by Add Folder. When including a folder, Drive will ask you should you’d prefer to again up that folder to Google Drive or Google Photographs. You may select to arrange all of your paperwork and different information in Google Drive, while conserving your images in a separate place. It’s completely as much as you.



Add Backup Folder to Google Drive

When you’ve chosen all of the folders that you just wish to again as much as your Google Drive, press Save.

Change Your Sync Settings

You may also change your settings from the Settings menu. Amongst these are choices to regulate bandwidth, which is useful should you’re utilizing a gradual connection or have knowledge price caps. You may also arrange Google Drive to robotically launch if you log in to your Mac, present file sync standing, and show affirmation messages when eradicating shared gadgets.


Google Drive Preferences

Google Drive Storage

In distinction to Apple’s iCloud Drive service, which has 5GB free, Google Drive presents 15GB of free storage to make use of. That is synced throughout Google providers, that means should you use Gmail, Google Drive, and different providers, all of them share the 15GB allowance. If that isn’t sufficient—which it typically isn’t for a lot of customers—you’ll be able to improve your storage plan via Google One. Probably the most fundamental storage improve is 100GB for $1.99 monthly, and it goes as much as 30TB for $149.99 monthly.

You may improve your Google Drive storage on-line via Google One or via the Settings pane within the Preferences window.

Google Drive as a Each day Useful resource

If you’re a frequent Google Drive person, it’s a good suggestion to combine it into Finder in your Mac. Doing so means that you can simply entry your information, open them in your Mac. You may also go one step additional, and again up particular Mac folders to your Google Drive account. It will enable you to preserve a backup protected in case something ever goes unsuitable.


MacBook connected to external storage drive
Time Machine vs. iCloud Drive: What Ought to You Use to Again Up Your Mac?

Questioning whether or not it is higher to make use of iCloud or Time Machine to again up your Mac? Here is an in depth comparability of the 2 choices.

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