Google Drive is a game-changer for Mac users who need seamless file sync and backup. With Google Drive, you can access your files from anywhere, at any time, as long as you have an internet connection.
The app allows you to store files up to 15 GB for free, which is perfect for storing documents, photos, and other small files. This means you can say goodbye to cluttered hard drives and hello to more free space on your Mac.
Setting up Google Drive on your Mac is a breeze, and you can do it in just a few minutes. Simply download the app, sign in with your Google account, and you're good to go.
Sync and Backup
Syncing your Google Drive files with your Mac is a straightforward process. You can choose to keep all your files on the cloud and only make select items available offline, or save a copy of all your files on both your Mac and Google Drive.
This sync method is automatic and runs in the background, so you don't have to lift a finger. You can check the sync status and recently synced files from the Drive icon in the Menu Bar.
To change your sync settings, head to the Settings menu, where you can control bandwidth, set Google Drive to launch automatically, and more. This is especially useful if you're using a slow connection or have data rate caps.
You can also back up specific folders on your Mac to your Google Drive, allowing you to access your data from another computer if needed. This is done by adding a folder from the Google Drive Preferences window.
Syncing your desktop with Google Drive is also an option, which keeps all your Drive files up to date and available for you to access. This feature is available for both Windows and macOS.
Security and Reliability
Google Drive for Mac offers a high level of security and reliability, thanks to its integration with the trusted Google Cloud infrastructure.
Your data is kept safe in the cloud, where it seamlessly integrates with your Workspace apps. This means you can access your files from anywhere, at any time.
AI-powered security features, such as AI classification, learn what you consider sensitive content and automatically label it in Google Drive. This helps you keep your sensitive information organized and easily accessible.
Secure Cloud
Google Cloud infrastructure provides secure cloud storage that seamlessly integrates with your Workspace apps. This means your data is safe and easily accessible from anywhere.
Encryption is a key feature of Google Drive, which provides a client-side encryption feature since 2021. This adds an extra layer of security to your stored data.
You can count on Google Cloud for secure cloud storage, as it's a trusted infrastructure that's been proven to be reliable.
Downtime Issues
Google Drive has a 99.9% uptime guarantee for Google Workspace customers, but the service has still experienced significant downtimes over the years.
Notable downtimes occurred in March 2013, October 2014, January 2016, September 2017, January 2020, and December 2020.
During these outages, Google's App Status Dashboard was updated to reflect the current status of each service and the restoration progress.
In January 2016, a Google spokesperson apologized for the inconvenience caused by the outage, stating that the company strives to insulate users from the effects of failures, but this time it didn't happen.
Google's engineers conducted a post-mortem investigation to determine how to make their services more resilient to unplanned network failures.
In August 2013, a global outage affected all of Google's services for five minutes, causing global Internet traffic to drop by 40%.
Empower Team Collaboration
Shared drives give teams a place to store, access, and manage files together. This makes it easier for team members to collaborate and work together on projects.
Google Drive incorporates a system of file sharing that allows teams to work together seamlessly. The creator of a file or folder is, by default, its owner, and can regulate the public visibility of the file or folder.
Shared files have an upload limit of 400,000 items, so teams can store a large number of files in one place. This makes it easier to manage and organize files, and reduces the need for multiple folders and drives.
In Shared Drives, file/folder sharing and ownership are assigned to a team rather than to an individual user. This makes it easier for teams to work together and collaborate on projects.
Teams can also assign different access levels to files and folders to different users and teams, and share a folder publicly. This makes it easier to control who has access to sensitive information and to share files with external partners or clients.
Unlike individual Google Drive, Shared Drives offer unlimited storage, which makes it easier for teams to store and manage large amounts of data. This is especially useful for teams that need to store and manage large files, such as videos or images.
Features and Tools
Google Drive for Mac offers a range of features and tools that make it easy to manage and search your files.
You can narrow down your search results by file type, ownership, visibility, and the open-with app. This helps you quickly find what you need.
Searching for images is also a breeze, as you can describe or name what's in them. For example, a search for "mountain" returns all the photos of mountains, as well as any text documents about mountains.
Text in images and PDFs can be extracted using optical character recognition, making it easy to find what you're looking for.
How to Use
To use Google Drive for desktop, you'll need a Google account and Google Drive set up. Download Google Drive for Desktop from Google's website, and it will take up approximately 410MB on your Mac.
After installing the app, you'll be prompted to log in to your Drive account. Once you've signed in, the app will automatically sync with your account and be ready for use.
Google Drive will ask for permission to access your files on your storage drive, which is necessary to create its own network access folder. This folder allows you to access Google Drive directly from Finder.
To set up Google Drive, follow these steps:
- Download Google Drive for Desktop
- Install the app
- Log in to your Drive account
- Grant permission to access your files on your storage drive
Annotate PDFs
You can add and edit comments directly in PDFs by highlighting text. This feature is super handy for making notes or leaving feedback.
To add comments, simply highlight the text you want to comment on and type away. You can edit comments later if you need to.
Quickly scan and store receipts, billing statements, and more as searchable PDFs, directly from the Drive app for Android or iOS. This makes it easy to keep track of important documents.
You can add comments directly in the PDFs, which is especially useful for collaborating with others or keeping a record of changes.
AI-Powered Search
Google Drive's AI-powered search is a game-changer for finding what you need quickly.
It offers speed and reliability by quickly surfacing relevant results based on your activities.
You can narrow down search results by file type, ownership, visibility, and the open-with app.
The search function even lets you search for images by describing or naming what's in them.
For example, a search for "mountain" returns all the photos of mountains, as well as any text documents about mountains.
Google Drive's AI-powered search also uses optical character recognition to extract text from images and PDFs.
This means you can find specific information even if it's hidden within an image or PDF.
In 2016, Google added natural language processing to the Google Drive website, enabling specific user search queries like "find my budget spreadsheet from last December".
This feature has made it much easier to find specific files and documents within your Drive account.
In 2017, Google integrated Drive and the Google Search app on Android, allowing users to search for keywords and see any relevant Drive files.
Integration and Compatibility
Google Drive on Mac is a powerful tool that seamlessly integrates with various third-party apps. You can import and create Google Drive files within these apps to streamline your work.
Slack, Zoom, and Salesforce are just a few examples of the many third-party apps that integrate with Google Drive. This means you can access and manage your files from within these apps, without having to switch between multiple platforms.
The integration with Atlassian and SAP is also a significant advantage, allowing you to work more efficiently across different tools and systems. With Google Drive on Mac, you can create and import files from within these apps, saving you time and effort.
Many more third-party apps are supported, so you can choose the ones that best fit your workflow and needs. This flexibility is a key benefit of using Google Drive on Mac.
Enterprise and Education
Google Drive has two main offerings for businesses and educational institutions: Google Drive Enterprise and Google Drive for Education. Google Drive Enterprise is a business version that offers unlimited storage, advanced file audit reporting, and eDiscovery services. It also features 24/7 phone support and guaranteed 99.9% uptime for its servers.
Google Drive for Education was announced in 2014 and offers unlimited storage and support for files up to 5 TB in size, with full encryption. This service is available for free to all Google Apps for Education users.
In addition to these features, Google Drive Enterprise also allows users to access and collaborate on Microsoft Office files and 60+ other file types, making it a versatile option for businesses. The pricing of Drive Enterprise is based on usage, with $8 per active user per month, plus $0.04 per GB per month.
Enterprise
Google Drive Enterprise is a business version of Google Drive that offers advanced features and control for businesses.
It features unlimited storage, allowing users to upload files as large as 5 TB, and includes advanced file audit reporting and eDiscovery services.
Google Drive Enterprise also delivers 24/7 phone support to business users and guarantees 99.9% uptime for its servers.
In 2015, Google announced that Google Drive for Work would be compliant with the new ISO/IEC 27018:2014 security and privacy standard, which assured businesses that their data would be protected and not used for advertising.
This compliance included additional tools for handling and exporting data, more transparency about data storage, and protection from third-party data requests.
Google Drive Enterprise was later announced in 2018 as a standalone edition for businesses that don't want to buy the full Google Workspace, offering collaborative editing of documents and access to Microsoft Office files and other file types.
The pricing of Drive Enterprise is based on usage, with $8 per active user per month, plus $0.04 per GB per month.
Education
In education, technology plays a vital role in enhancing the learning experience. Google Drive for Education was announced on September 30, 2014.
It was made available for free to all Google Apps for Education users. This move aimed to provide educators with a reliable and secure platform for storing and sharing educational content.
Google Drive for Education offers unlimited storage, a game-changer for institutions with large amounts of digital content. This allows teachers to upload and share files without worrying about running out of space.
Individual files can be as large as 5 TB in size, making it possible to store even the largest multimedia files. This feature is particularly useful for schools and universities that produce a lot of video content.
Full encryption is also provided, ensuring that sensitive information remains secure. This is especially important in educational settings where data protection is a top priority.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I remove the Google Drive app from my Mac?
To remove the Google Drive app from your Mac, drag the Google Drive app from the Applications folder to the Trash and then empty the Trash. This will completely uninstall the app from your computer.
How do I download from Google Drive to my Mac?
To download files from Google Drive on a Mac, click a file to select it, then press Command-click to select additional files and right-click to download.
Will Google Drive no longer support your version of macOS soon?
Google Drive will stop supporting macOS versions earlier than 10.15, which includes macOS High Sierra and earlier, starting from January 9, 2023. Check your macOS version to see if you're affected by this change
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