why is google getting rid of drive for mac

Why Is Google Getting Rid Of Drive Software Options Mentioned

Support will be cut off on December 11th and the app will shut down completely on March 12th, 2018.

Users who are still running the Drive app will start seeing notifications in October that its going away, and the company will steer customers towards one of two replacements depending on whether theyre a consumer or business user.

Why Is Google Getting Rid Of Drive Software Options Mentioned

You can still access it from the web, smartphone apps, and either of the software options mentioned below.

Theres Backup and Sync, the all-encompassing consumer app that replaces both the standalone Google Drive and Google Photos Uploader apps.

It offers essentially the same functionality as Drive and works much the same way.

Say goodbye to time-consuming file syncing and any concerns about disk space, Google says of the benefits that Drive File Stream introduces.

For most people the Backup and Sync option is probably it, though power users have complained about its lack of support for NAS drives.

Easy backup solution Even if you dont use Google Drive Backup and Sync to sync your entire Drive to a local machine, it still makes for an outstanding (and very easy to use) backup solution that wont cost you a penny and works seamlessly with your Google Drive account.

However, if youre working with, say a MacBook Pro with limited space, allowing Google Drive to sync 30 GB of data to your drive could be a deal breaker.

This can be problematic, when you really only need to sync specific folders from your local machine to your Google Drive.

With the new Google Drive Backup and Sync client, you get the choice, during installation, of syncing your entire Drive folder, part of your drive folder, or none of your Drive folder to the local machine.

With that in check, you can then set Backup and Sync to only back from specific folders to your Google Drive.

Even better, the Backup and Sync client offers easy access to its features from the desktop.

Im going to show you how you can set up Google Backup and Sync such that youre not wasting precious drive space on your local machine.

When the file downloads, double-click on it to mount the installer.

Once the installer is mounted, you can then double-click on the Backup and Sync icon to run the actual installer.

When the installation completes, you will be required to sign into your Google Account.

In this screen ( Figure A ), make sure to uncheck Sync my Drive to this computer.

What if, however, there are certain folders on Google Drive you do want to sync If thats the case, leave Sync my Drive to this computer checked and then check Sync only these folders.

When you select this option, you will then be able to select which folders on Google Drive you want to sync ( Figure B ).

Figure B Selecting only certain folders in Drive to sync to your local machine.

Youll find a section with the auto-generated name for your computer (in my case My MacBook Pro).

In that section ( Figure C ), choose the folders you want to backup with your Drive account.

If your folder isnt listed in the viewing box, click the CHOOSE FOLDER button and then (once Finder opens) select the folders you want to add.

In this same window, you can choose the photo and video upload size as well as the default behavior for removing items.

Click OK and the settings will be in place and the backup will start.

Click on that tab to reveal the newly created folder, backed up from your local drive ( Figure D ).

The one caveat to this is the sync is one-way only (hence backup).

If you add files to the directory on Google Drive, they will not sync to your local drive.

In order to get a two-way sync, you will have to then click on the Backup and Sync icon on your MacBook top panel, click on the three vertical dots, click Preferences, click on the Google Drive tab, click to enable Sync My Drive to this computer, click Sync only these folders, and then select the folder(s) you want to actually sync between your local drive and Google Drive.

Why Is Google Getting Rid Of Drive For Mac