Your files are found in different places on your computer based on whether you choose to mirror or stream them. In Drive for desktop, you can choose to stream or mirror your Drive files. Sync local folders, like Documents or Desktop, to Google Driveīack up photos and videos to Google Photosīack up photos and videos directly to Google Photos instead of Google Drive

Integrates with Microsoft Outlook, Meet scheduling Sync only individual files in My Drive for No, but you can instead stream files to save disk space Yes, if your plan includes shared drives or you’re invited to a shared drive This will:Ī) Make it easier for admins and IT teams to manage deploymentsī) Reduce user confusion around which app to useĬ) Result in better performance for end-users, as seen below: When Google unified both tools, it created a powerful and unified sync client for anyone who uses Drive regardless of whether they use it for business or personal purposes.

Some Google Workspace customers had deployed both Drive stream and Backup and Sync solutions, which was confusing for end users and challenging for IT departments to manage. That way, your files are always up to date and can be accessed from any device. If you edit, delete, or move a file in one location, the same change happens in the other location. After syncing, the files on your computer match the files in the cloud. Syncing is the process of downloading files from the cloud and uploading files from your computer’s hard drive. Drive for desktop also syncs local files to the cloud in the background, which cuts down on the amount of time you have to wait for files to sync. To address this, Google unified two sync clients Google Drive File Stream (which was built for business users) and Backup and Sync (which was built for consumer users) to one syncing tool called Google Drive for Desktop.ĭrive for desktop is a Windows and macOS application that allows you to access data straight from your desktop, allowing you to rapidly access files and folders in a familiar location. As a result being able to keep files, folders, and photos safely synchronized between devices, organized, and backed up has become more important than ever. People are progressively creating more documents, files, and images and using several devices to access this content.

Google drive file stream select folders