When it comes to accessing Google Drive data on your computers, you have a few options.

1. Google Backup & Sync
2. Google Drive File Stream
3. Access via Web Browser 

Google originally had an app called Google Drive Sync however this was discontinued on the 12th of May 2018.

In its place are two newer models called Drive Backup & Sync. These new apps essentially work the same as Drive Sync with the option to backup your desktop data to Google Drive as an offsite backup service.  Here is a video I created showing how to install the new Backup & sync app. 

Backup & Sync will syncronise selected data between Google Drive and your computer. If you have a large amount of data, this can cause issues such as hard drive filling up or slow internet speeds due to syncing. Backup & Sync can be a great offsite backup solution for your computers if used correctly.

Google has also released Drive File Stream, an application which allows files to be streamed in real-time to your desktop ensuring that bandwidth and hard drive space usage are kept at a minimum.

For our Google Workspace customers, we highly recommend  Drive File Stream over  Drive Backup & Sync as we believe it is a superior product, especially if using Google Workspace Business or Google Workspace Enterprise where you have access to shared drives (previously called team drives). You can select files and folders to store a local copy on your computer, this can be handy if you want to work on files but wont have internet access.

We do however still encourage, as a matter of best practice, to operate Google Drive through the web browser.  This enables users to power their search of Google Docs & Sheets for collaboration using the Google search engine as well as many other new features Google release, especially with their Machine Learning capabilities such as the “priority” folder.

With the recent update to Google Drive you can now comment on Microsoft office files, PDFs and photos in the browser; an additional bonus.  

For businesses that do design work, Drive File Stream or Backup & Sync may still be the more suitable option. 

If you would like an expert to chat to you about your best solution, feel free to contact Onsite Helper by emailing [email protected] or call 03 9999 3106.

Onsite Helper is a Managed Services Provider (MSP) who specialises in Google Workspace implementation, Google Workspace Migrations, Google Workspace Support & Google Workspace Training.