How to use Google Drive for Desktop (Tutorial for Beginners)

[@Simpletivity]

Want more tips to save time with Google Drive? Watch this video next: kzbin.info/www/bejne/naW0nZ-Fqqxjmsk

[@in2Rafi]

My question is how can I share a folder or file from Desktop Google Drive as I can do from Online Google Drive?

[@johntomasik1555]

I used to use the dislike count to give me an indication of whether a video will answer my questions or if it'll be just a waste of my time. Unfortunately, they took that away. Luckily, this video rocks it. It answered my question quickly, and it gave me valuable info I wasn't anticipating.

[@Simpletivity]

I'm so glad to hear that John. Thanks for the like!

[@PurpleSwan]

He may know what he is talking about but I don't.

[@DavidAverbuch]

Thanks. The Google drive icon was hidden on my pc and I didn't understand several points. Your video revealed it to me.

[@Simpletivity]

Glad it helped!

[@PlasticScot]

Mine doesn't look anything like this

[@HenriqueVieira-g5p]

how can i open in my computer an especific folder from browser to the app in desktop? is there a easy way?

[@ahkau4612]

Thanks. Much needed video as the Google Drive desktop is not all intuitive (very poor design). "Being productive doesn't have to be difficult"... yea right.

[@Nguyenmanhquang249]

Sorry sir, How to clear Local cached files directory C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Google\DriveFS Thank you

[@Leinsterbaby]

Get the app cause you don't need to launch the browser, to open a doc file, it will open a browser. :D

[@lauzi9163]

Hey, nice video! But I don't want to mirror all of Google's files on my computer, can I only sync selected folders? Plus, all files from my computer were automatically saved to Google Drive as well. Can this be exhibited?

[@grace4683]

Omg I just spent over an hour trying to figure out how this worked when I could have just watched this 10min video. Thank you so much!

[@Simpletivity]

You're welcome!

[@Yosetime]

Only an hour? I was in for about 5 hours, with a few breaks now and then. After watching this, I'm on the brink of understanding. Too tired now to deal with any more of it today though. What an absolute gong show. glad for a good video.

[@waywed]

A point to note is that even if you choose the "stream all files" option to save hard drive space, you can still select (via your G: local folder) individual files and folders that you want to have available offline.

[@tonyb178]

Hello, If i share a folder via share with people and groups and i enter the peoples email address that i want to share with, if this people send the link to someone else will that person also have access to the folder?

[@phillipholt6005]

I just bought a chromebook and I'm finding this is the best channel to use. I'm definitely going to subscribe.

[@spike8126]

Thanks for this video, just what I needed. I just started using Google Drive and was confused about the difference between Google Web and desktop. Looked at other explanations on the subject, and though I could understand them, I couldn't relate to the real significance of the desktop. This is now in the past thanks to your excellent video on the subject. I've also subscribed, thanks again😊

[@Simpletivity]

So glad that you found this video helpful. Thanks for sharing your feedback and for subscribing!

[@YNGricky]

can someone help I recently bought 2tb space on google drive but once I look at the local storage of google drive it show the same space as my local ssd have

[@Simpletivity]

From my understanding, it is showing the space you have left on the SSD you are synching your Google Drive to. It doesn't reflect your maximum Drive usage.

[@YNGricky]

​@@Simpletivitythanks for the info

[@Simpletivity]

You're welcome!

[@sungglerpassword]

Thank you very much! I have really be struggling with this since the switch from Back-Up & Sync

[@Simpletivity]

Glad I could help!

[@henne_phil]

Hei..nice tutorial. One question pls: Is it possible to work in a second google account on my desktop? If yes, how can i adjust that? Thank you.

[@Simpletivity]

Yes, here is a good guide which shows you how: www.cbackup.com/articles/google-drive-for-desktop-multiple-accounts.html

[@macnottsuk]

Don't use Google Drive or if you do, don't mirror files! Why! Ransomware, if you get infected with ransomware your google files will be encrypted along with any files on your PC. I deleted all backup and sync apps on my PC and use Chrome PWAs (progressive Web Apps) They sit on my taskbar so quick to launch, then just drag and drop to you desktop the file you wish to work with. When done editing drag back to the PWA. This keeps your files stored separately from you PC and can not be corrupted with Ransomware. Another way to protect you files back them up to a storage device you can remove from your PC. But you will probably forget to do backups.

[@fabiodiaz6188]

I was hoping to see in this video how to get the app but for multiple of my google accounts, since I use different ones due to the 15GB limit. Is it possible to have files from more than 1 google account?

[@Simpletivity]

Yes, you can use multiple accounts with Drive Desktop. Here is a good overview on how to set it up: www.cbackup.com/articles/google-drive-for-desktop-multiple-accounts.html

[@ibaity]

I rely on Google Drive permanently for my work and personal matters. It has been noticed recently that with my use of Windows 10 I cannot search for my files in Google Drive through Windows 10 Any suggestions ?!

[@nad_2536]

a very tender version of Tom Hanks voice

[@Simpletivity]

Thanks for the kind comparison!

[@DemetriPanici]

Google drive is really a solid place to store your files. Until previously I did not know about the desktop app but it's honestly so helpful to have

[@Simpletivity]

You said it, Demetri. Having direct access from your computer can save you so much time!

[@אלהפורמן-ת1ב]

Hey, thank you for the video it really helped me. However I have one question, if I save a folder on the Google drive but then add files to the folder or change the files within the folder on my computer, will the app automaticlly sync the changes or do I need to save it again on google drive?

[@sureshaca]

Yes, the change file will automatically sync to google drive. And even you change the file in the google drive over your mobile or tab, the same will be updated to your computer. Be careful if you delete any file from G. drive then the same will be removed from your computer aslo.

[@jillmac2000]

Great video. Do you know if you have multiple Google accounts, can you link more than one account to Google Drive for Desktop?

[@dickpeller]

I have the same question...

[@chi94]

Can somebody tell me how I can get the Google Drive to be displayed like One Drive or Dropbox in the file explorer. I.e. its not a G: drive under PC

[@nelsona6528]

Brilliant quick and objective tutorial. Cleared my doubts about DRIVE, helped me understand the Desktop version is the one I really need. Thanks much ! and keep up with the great job, that is certainly helping many people. 👍

[@Simpletivity]

I'm so glad you found this tutorial helpful. Thanks so much for sharing your kind comments.

[@PhazonBlaxor]

Streaming makes tons of cache files that eats up space locally. Does Google Drive purge the cache automatically at some point, or do I have to manually delete the cache files? I tried setting the cache limit to 1GB via registry edit, but once it's full, explorer crashes so badly that it cannot even be stopped from task manager and requires rebooting the whole computer. Really annoying "feature"! Anything to solve this? I only have 256GB internal storage so I wanted to use file streaming to save space...

[@youms108]

This program messes up with windows 10 start menu icons. It's horrible..

[@jmackay7055]

Soooooo much better than other Google Drive for Desktop tutorials I have encountered (points made much more clearly)! Thank you.

[@Simpletivity]

I'm so glad to hear that. Thanks for watching!

[@TT-lt3zd]

❤ This is a very useful information ❤ Could you please show us the technique how to not synchronise video mp4 files settings on Google drive? As i choose synchronise location is Desktop to synchronise all of my pdf files, however i also save videos on desktop, but i don't want it to be synchronised also. How to do ignore synchronise files settings? And also just selected folder that we want to synchronise? Please guide us, thank you very much ❤

[@rebeccahasbrouck3338]

Can I use Google Drive and access all files from my desktop, laptop and phone?

[@Simpletivity]

Yes, yes, and yes! You can access your Google Drive files from any connected device.

[@litanbiswas8831]

When I install Google Drive, a drive is created directly on my computer. I don't want that drive to be created. How can it be turned off ??

[@deniseg9939]

I was concerned about this too, as I didn't want my files stored permanently on my computer. However, the G drive that is created is virtual and serves as a cloud link only. To experiment, quit the Google Drive application on your computer (click on the icon in your taskbar, choose the settings icon, choose quit), then check your computer drives and the G drive is gone. To resume after you quit, click Google Drive from the Start Up menu and you will have to wait for the files to sync again, then you will see the G drive again on your computer. The G drive will be created for any preferences you choose, whether it's to stream or mirror folders from Google Drive or link other computers or devices to it, and there is no way to avoid it. I assume when you choose to work on files offline on the G drive, they are stored there (not on your C drive) and will sync to Google Drive when you go back online. However, I don't use this feature of working offline from the G drive, which seems to be the whole point of Google upgrading their Drive application. Maybe Simpletivity or someone else can correct me if I'm wrong here.

[@stathis1997]

Man...I had seen the settings button on the google drive icon but never bothered to use it. Turns out, that it is pretty much useful. Thank you very much.

[@Simpletivity]

Thanks for sharing

[@frankfei9130]

What about creating a new google doc or sheet on the desktop. I cannot find a way to do that, it looks like I can only access them but cannot create them on the desktop version.

[@Simpletivity]

You're absolutely right. Google Drive for Desktop doesn't allow you to create new documents or sheets directly on your desktop. Its primary function is to sync your existing Google Drive files between your computer and the cloud.

[@frankfei9130]

@@Simpletivity Actually, I can create google docs, sheets etc. inside my google drive on my PC by right clicking and selecting google doc on the drop down, but it not on the MacBook version of google drive.. strange.

[@kgougoulakis]

So i have this issue. I had a folder on my desktop synced with Google Drive, to save my work both offline and on cloud. I formated recently and this folder is available on My Computers section --> My laptop on Google Drive online. Can i make a copy of it on my desktop folder (as i used to have) and manage to keep it synced in the same folder online?

[@pluto762]

It's got read-only access on MacOS. I can't add any files when in Stream mode. It also doesn't ask for any permissions. Is it the same for Windows? It it some permissions issue?

[@lydethful]

If I make changes to a folder on my laptop G Drive (for example, copy several files and folders there), will it sync back to Google Cloud Drive?

[@Simpletivity]

Yes, anything that is synced within this folder should be reflected in your Cloud Drive.

[@lydethful]

Thank you. Good to hear that.

[@user-rm8rc1xi8g]

Microsoft yuke

[@SansP3ur]

❌ Syncing error: I've right-clicked on the offending file but there doesn't appear to be any options for resyncing, removing, etc.. How is this remedied?

[@karamalab]

Hi, I downloaded the software and use it to make a backup copy of my important folders, but I noticed that when I delete a file from my computer; it syncs back from google drive, it behaves like 2 dimensional syncing (mirroring) while I want to use it as a one dimensional sync to sync only from laptop to drive and not vice versa.. is there any solution?

[@nabilslh]

Tanks a lot for this step by step tutorial. Simple and easy. Nice helpful work.

[@mv.schouten9105]

Hi Scott, A question concerning Mirroring: When something is changed on computer, for example a new file is created, it will be copied automatically into the Drive online isn't it ? But what is leading when you computer hasn't got a file "X" anymore and your Drive Online still has it. There can be a tiny moment that you made a mistake to delete a file on your computer and want to keep the file which is only stored for that moment in Google Online for that moment (because you deleted in on your computer) 1.How can you overcome that your only copy in Drive Online is deleted ? 2. And how can je be sure the only copy in Drive Online will be copied some time later to your Desktop again as well ? Thanx. Martin

[@somboonvorapanyasakul417]

Can I select only some files to mirror and the rest to be stored in the cloud?

[@littledog5404]

Why on my computer it on show my Google drive 500gb but my Google drive is 5tb

[@Simpletivity]

From my understanding, it is showing the space you have left on the computer you are synching your Google Drive to. It doesn't reflect your maximum Drive usage.

[@littledog5404]

@@Simpletivity ok 😊 thank u

[@MrSeinfeldFan2]

This should be EASY... but it's not, because I can't find the way to do it. At first, I built all my files in Google Drive (GD) on my PC-1. I have tons of files of all types. I can see them, rename them, move them etc. No problem there. THEN: I bought a new pc. PC-2 I soon realized I wanted to SEE all my files on my PC-1 on the new PC... And that is where the problem begins. Would you like to help me? I could make a short video to make things simpler and faster. WHAT DO YOU THINK? TIA EM.

[@in2Rafi]

My question is how can I share a folder or file from Desktop Google Drive as I can do from Online Google Drive?

[@Studio-Jackie]

Hi, thanks for your video !! do you know, if it's possible to install Google Drive on a regular drive rather than a virtual drive? I can not do it in any way. I would really like your information on the subject.

[@santosog]

I think you can use Google Drive streaming location to Folder, which is a physical folder in your local drive (not to Drive Letter, which is a virtual drive). It can be configured in the Settings of Google Drive for Desktop's Preferences.

[@AdventureHorseRidinginNYS]

Thank you so much for this video what a great help

[@Simpletivity]

You are so welcome!

[@dickpeller]

I use a Mac with several different Profiles- how does Google Drive work in this case? Thanks

[@tulsamortgageguy]

I can't get Drive to pop un when I click the ^ on my laptop. It has been there before but can't find now. Any ideas?

[@Cartoonicus]

How do I "REVERSE SYNC?" I have a folder that only exists on my Google Drive, that I would like to be on my computer and synced, but the back-up option only allows me to upload FROM my PC, not Download to it.

[@Capt-Cran]

What an incredible video and channel ... so clear, concise, and substantive ... makes it so much easier to understand ... thank you ... great job!!

[@CarlosBustamanteRestrepo]

thanks! great video

[@fredphoesh]

excellent and clear... I guess it's an American thing, the extreme over emphasising... it makes it hard to listen to sometimes. Please be more natural in your vocal delivery, your content is great. Thanks.

[@AtliTobiasson]

you never came back to it 3:14

[@gusgray06]

Brilliant explanation - excellent tutorial, concise and logical to follow.

[@Simpletivity]

Many thanks!

[@giadaalbertini]

congratulations on the tutorial well done. I am Italian and your English is easily understood. Thanks I will always follow you. SIGNED UP

[@ankitaamar1892]

Can we download 2 or more google drives on our website? I use 2 google drives 1 is personal and another is for official purposes, can I access both from my desktop?

[@gautambhagat5156]

yes, you can add multiple accounts

[@Itsjustbeau]

Thank you outstanding and concise. Very well done and exactly what I was looking for!

[@jlariosa1]

Thanks to your tutorial. How are the contents of Google Drive related to Time Machine and External Hard Drive?

[@cdtechniques686]

thanks very much for the info.. howevere I have a couple of problems that do not fit your explanation... 1. that I already had my "clive" documents folder backed up by "Google Backup and Sync" app into my Gdrive which shows up in the location ... Drive\Computers\My Computer\Clive in the Gdrive browser when opened. How to I get the "Clive" documents folder mirrored by the new Desktop app.?? 2. A similar issue exists with the "My Pictures" folder which is already existing on Google Drive but the space used up by these photos (63Gb) is not accounted for against my Gdrive total storage allowance. How do I continue to have "My Pictures" folder backed up by the desktop app..? If I add the "My Pictures" folder to the ADD Folder in desktop it starts to backup all my pictures again in the My Computer Folder in Gdrive... I don't see any gain in using the desktop app, but Google have stopped supporting it.. Ideas..?

[@haithemelforjani2297]

Many thanks, very helpful and practical tutorial. I was straggling to add another Google account to my Google Drive for desktop as I didn't know to access its setting I need to access it from taskbar until I saw your video.

[@Simpletivity]

Glad it helped!

[@akmfkarim2000]

Thanks for our tutorials. I set up google desktop on my PC & now I have a question. for Example: In my PC drive "D: I created a folder named "office" and sync with Google inside the folder, an excel file name "Production" As per my work last save of the file (Production) The file auto-updates to my Google drive in the "Computers" section. ## My Drive ## Computers This is great that I can download the file as per the last save from my good drive and I can work from anywhere even if I am not in the office. My question is. If by mistake the file (Production) is deleted from my folder (office) of my office computer. It's also deleted from my google drive computers section. any solution is there if the file is deleted from my PC but the file keep remains safe in the google drive computers section??? I hope you understand my problems/. Thank you

[@kishoriradha3848]

Very helpful video! Thank you very much. I have a question though: If I chose, mirror... what happens if I delete a file or folder on my laptop, will it reflect on my drive? If so, what's the best way to keep my files and delete on my local folder while having access to everything offline.

[@prestonhalle9818]

I just did this with an external hard drive to free up space on my laptop. Took me forever to figure out how because Google Drive didn’t like the hard drive for some reason. I found an app called Insync that allows you to use an external hard drive for exactly this purpose.

[@LittleBabaMoi]

I have downloaded the google drive in my desktop. Under “my company” folder, my G drive storage quota is different from my subcription. It stated as 97GB however, i subcripted to 200GB. Also when I log in thru browser to view my drive, it shown i only utilised 8GB but in my G drive it shown that i have utilised 75GB. How come its this?

[@GEORGIGEORG3]

I am buying a new laptop and want to migrate my files to google Drive. I have over 500GB of data, mostly pics and videos of my kids for the last 12 years. I am considering mirroring desktop with drive, but don’t want 500GB of data to be saved to the new laptop. I am getting a laptop with only 528GB SSD. I want only new files I save to my desktop to be backed up on new laptop. How much space is used to mirror data on the desktop? Does it all transfer over? If so does that mean I need to get a computer with say 1TB SSD? Any help is appreciated!

[@YousofAzizi]

Can I ask a question? My desktop Google Drive was working very well on my laptop. I just created another account for my computer. So now I have two accounts on my Windows laptop. The Google Drive is working very well on my old account, but for my new windows account (I created a local account), after downloading Google Drive for pc, it shows this message: This version of Google Drive is already installed. I don't want to uninstall it as it may affect my Google Drive on my original account. Do you have any idea how to solve this problem?

[@RyanH0809]

If I download a document from the web and choose the virtual drive (G: Drive) as the save location, does is actually save anywhere on my physical hard drive or is it fundamentally the same thing as the "save to Google Drive" or "print to Google Drive" options that I use to see the Chrome browser? Likewise, when I drag and drop of file into the virtual drive, is that fundamentally the same thing as dragging and dropping it into the Google Drive webpage to upload it?

[@j3y3k70]

Good vid but I don't have any of those options in the settings! It looks completely different. Just a "Settings - Account and more" on the left side, and none of the options shown in the video. Very strange. Is it just me or ?? anyone has an idea why?

[@jeremynixon8434]

I had this exact problem - I couldn't select which drives or folders to upload. Turns out it was because of the transition from using Backup & Sync - When I uninstalled Backup & Sync and Drive for Desktop, then reinstalled Drive for Desktop, I now had the settings in the video above and was able to choose the folders I wanted to upload. Hope it helps!

[@mbmushlin]

I have a specific folder and set up sub-folders that I would access to in each of my 3 different computers. A MacBook Pro, a Mac Mini,and a Windows Laptop - How can I configure Google drive on each pc to accomplish this please.

[@eliegedeonbikieyoudonangou5728]

I think the only bad thing with this is that we don't have the "shared with me" folder in the G disk in our laptop.

[@sodiacTV]

I have it, but maybe they just updated it since you commented.

[@basedinbox]

Thanks for the video. But haven't you forgot the other computer feature?

[@JayDhanavade]

well you know, what i did.. I have Samsung tab and in tab samsung files have same feature to get drive side by side with internal storage so I think installing drive on windows will be great to transfer files bcz I do have fast wifi so without opening g drive in google I can directly transfer folders from PC to my samsung's my files. Thanks for the video :)

[@mustaphabusiness2266]

tnx for this tutorial. would you plz explain this: when I click (This Pc/Google Drive); only (My Drive option) is displayed , I couldn't find (Other computers)? Urgent Plz

[@jerkshop]

under windows, is it possible to create a folder outside the My Drive folder?

[@educationworld4611]

I have Google drive folder in D drive. I re install windows 10. When I downloaded and installed Google drive I don't know how to reconnect my existing Google drive folder to my Google drive. Kindly help me solve this problem. Regards

[@ericsesame6321]

I noticed my C drive was clearing fast after I started syncing the desktop. All I want to do is make sure my computer files are in my Google Drive, but if don't want any files from Google Drive saving to my desktop and use up storage. Is there a way around this?

[@Boz1211111]

Thanks for the video and showing how it works, i was interested does it integrate with windows explorer its a no go because i alredy see its going to be major annoyance. I was looking into it just because they are throttling uploads through web browser so hard. Il just find another service

[@soulimpact3854]

Hi, thank you for the tutorial. After the download was complete, G drive didn't show up in my explore file under Window C line instead I had to look for it, when I did find it and tried to drag and drop it under window for easy access, it didn't drop under the line but instead it got hidden somewhere else un window c. Do I need to uninstall and install again and maybe direct it to where it needs to show up? Thank you!

[@tuaussi]

Great video. If I have multiple Google accounts (personal, business, wife's business, etc). Can they each have their own folder in Google desktop?

[@riversoblivious]

streaming files doesn't make much sense to me due to how lame its concept is. why can't google have a function where you can simply sync your files to the cloud without having to stream or mirror them locally? backup and sync had it. it's frustrating how google always takes away from its services as much good as it adds to them.

[@arifinisahmed]

I have an issue. My Drive for Desktop is having trouble showing me files within folders. If I search for a specific file name, it takes time yet do not show the result. Can you help?

[@MonikaR2006]

I used Backup & Sync until it was disabled by Google and replaced by Drive for Desktop. It seems that you can have up to four different accounts. However, I am syncing three at the moment, every account needs to use a different drive letter on my computer. That adds visual space which I am not so fond about.

[@vivekroy7054]

How to take them out of c drive, three accounts are slowing the system

[@andyweb7779]

Can I easily save off a copy of my google documents and stick them on, say, an external hard drive where they cannot be edited? I'm scared of my Google Drive loosing info or me making a stupid mistake and deleting a swath of old info in a Doc.

[@KulvinderJabble]

When I click on the Google drive icon on my desktop. How can I go directly into Google Drive? At present opens a folder option. Click on my drive again, the it goes to Google Drive!

[@ccard6583]

If I sync a folder to Drive (streaming), will it automatically get deleted from my PC thus saving me space on my PC, or do I need to do that manually?

[@vaddisriramchaitanya2311]

In Ubuntu, google drive can be embedded in files app itself. A kind of default feature you can say!

[@aminul94]

Thanks for the nice video

[@anitariecker]

Thank you so much! Excellent!

[@Simpletivity]

You're very welcome!

[@juanfeutube]

Thank you. I find it very helpful and didactic.

[@michaelkgrantj]

holy phuck god. I did not search for this. I need to delete google.

[@Nathan477]

How can I copy some previously backed data from drive to pc ?

[@genepowers7886]

Excellent and thank you - I have been using Google drive for years and did not know this.

[@hadylim]

The same with me

[@ajay4747x]

Sir... Me Forest and Environment Me Job Karta Hoon .. Aur basically me computer operator hoon.... Aur mujhe document file like .xls, .doc, .pdf jesi kai saari file par me kaam karta hoon.. In sabhi file ka mene alrrady google drive desktop ka use karke already sync kara liya hai... Par dikkat yaahan par ye hai.. ki agar me computer ko format ya fir hardware change karu toh google drive pe mera data toh safe hai lekin jo file already google drive padi hai use mai wapas sync nahi kar paa raha hoon... Simple world mai bolu toh... Agar main mera pc change karu yaa fir format karu toh mera sync band nahi hoona chahiye.. vaapas se pehle ki tarah sync hoone lage.... Iske baareme koi video youtube pe he hi nahi sir... Aap is ke baare me video banaye sir.. Aur sir plz iss problem ka solution bataye... Thanks For Computer Only.... Not a smartphone

[@sedeldi3365]

Hey, can I choose not to stream or mirror my google drive to desktop. I just want to sync local folder and files to google drive

[@chwflooring]

Can you please show how to install or access " Sheard with me " also on the desktop as part of Google drive. Thank you

[@districtelectioncommission28]

Sir I have installed Google drive desktop my files are up to date on Drive and Folder but some latest folders did not appears online or on my laptop

[@raphaelaruane8261]

How do reindex my programs to run from Google drive so that I can use one software on multiple computers?

[@nklove8]

Hi, i dont want to sync my whole google drive on my PC instead I am looking to stream one or two folders. Is there any way to do that so?