Have you ever faced to any Google Drive sync problems? The answer is only Yes or No, and the reason can be varied in Yes case. However, do you know that Google offers different ways to work with files on your Google Drive? At this time, on Mac and Windows machines, you have two options:
- Using Backup and Sync (BnS).
- Using Drive File Stream (DFS).
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What is Google Drive?
Google Drive is a cloud-based storage, that you can use for containing almost anything. As a cloud-based device, you can synchronize all files between your computer, your smartphone, your tablet. It’s secured and fast. You can also share data with others without the need of sending the whole file. It’s beneficial when you want to share large files.
I am using Google Drive for containing many things. I also have several clients who are using TBs on Google Drive. For personal usage, it’s included in Gmail, with 15GB capacity. With a G Suite account, it starts with 30GB. Do you have one yet?
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Using Backup and Sync.
For a long time, Google has developed Google Drive software that can run on both Windows and Mac machines. The software creates a folder named Google Drive on your computer, and sync all files and folders in that Google Drive to cloud.
However, from 11.12.2017, the software is end of life. You can still run it if you want, but it’s not supported anymore. Google starts replacing it with a new one named Backup and Sync.
Either you have the old Google Drive software on your computer or not, you can start downloading BnS here. If you already have Google Drive, the new BnS will replace the old Google Drive. The data is still intact, no worry. Nothing change in your Google Drive. The change is the Google Drive software now is a shortcut to the new BnS software.
After installing, BnS will check your files. If you didn’t have Google Drive software on your computer before, it would start syncing with your cloud-based storage. If you had Google Drive software before, the new BnS will check all the files again and sync if anything is missing. It only takes few minutes. Nothing change.
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Because Backup and Sync is still using the same structure with Google Drive, anytime you change your files, local or remote, the file will be synced between your cloud-based storage and your devices. This is one of the differences between Backup and Sync and Drive File Stream.
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Another feature of the new BnS software is that it also replaces Google Photos app. In BnS options, you can choose to sync Google Photos too, so you don’t need to install two separate software.
Using Drive File Stream.
The software is still connecting your computer and your cloud-based storage. But now, it creates a new device on your computer and connects directly to your cloud-based drive. No file is contained in your computer. By that way, you will save your computer disk space, the bandwidth for syncing between your computer and your cloud-based storage. You will have an option for saving the files offline, but in that case, I would recommend BnS instead.
For me, I prefer to use DFS for several reasons.
- I am on the net all the time.
- I organize my files and folders on Google Drive already, I don’t need to sync other folders outside of that.
- I can access team folders also, which is not available with BnS.
- This method also eliminates most of your Google Drive sync problems, because now you access directly to the drive, not a file on your computer anymore.
However, I understand that your usage might be different 🙂 For comparing BnS and DFS, you can refer to this link for more information.
After installing DFS, you can safely uninstall Google Drive or BnS software. It will not delete data in your Google Drive folder, so if you want, you will need to delete that folder manually. Your files on the cloud are still there.
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- Because the new device is also named Google Drive, be careful when you delete data. Make sure you are deleting the old one, not the new one!
- If you are using any software using a path to the folder Google Drive, you will need to update to the new device.
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That’s it. What is your sync preference? 🙂 If you have any G suite or Google Drive sync problems, or want to migrate to cloud-based Google solutions, fill in your email below, I shall be glad to help. Name and comment are optional, but I surely want to know your name and your issue 🙂