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This option creates a continuous link between your computer and the cloud, plus you don’t have to create two copies of every file. One of these choices is which computer folders to back up to Drive. Google Drive for Desktop gives you several options during installation, which you can change anytime you like. Back Up Your Computer to Google Drive Automatically Of course, a better option would be to use a dedicated backup service instead, like Backblaze backup. The next way to back up files remedies these issues, so keep reading to find out the best way to automatically back up files with Google Drive.
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If you want to, you can just drag and drop files into the drive to upload them, but the inconvenience of manually uploading still remains.
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Files you upload to this virtual drive don’t take up any additional hard drive space.Ī virtual drive can solve the issue of data duplication that sync folders have. In Windows Explorer, it will look similar to Local Disk (C:), as you can see in the image below. A virtual drive attaches to your computer just like a hardware drive would but uses your cloud storage instead. Using Google’s Virtual DriveĪ virtual drive solves many of the issues that sync folders have. You will also need to manually upload any new files you create, plus it’s easy to forget which ones you’ve already uploaded (read our guide on how to upload to Google Drive). If you choose this method to back your data up, you will need to reupload files manually every time you edit them. Another downside of using the “My Drive” folder to back up your files is that you create a copy of each file, so if you want to back up your hard drive, you’re going to need twice the space that your data already takes up. One problem is that syncing files this way doesn’t preserve your folder structure, and you can easily forget to copy some files or folders. It doesn’t get any easier than dragging and dropping to upload, but that method isn’t perfect. Read on to find out how to back up your hard drive to the cloud using Google Drive. This lets you use your Drive folder to back up any files you choose, but it will take additional steps to back up your entire computer. There are several ways to do this, but the most reliable way is to use the Google Drive for Desktop app. However, this Google Drive backup guide will focus on creating backups and restoring Google Drive files to your computer. You can also use Google Drive to back up Android, in case you’re switching phones and want to keep all your data (Google Photos can help with that, too).
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However, there are ways to do a Google Drive backup of your computer’s hard drive. Every change you make to the folders you sync will be reflected in the cloud versions of the folders as well.Ĭloud storage services aren’t created with hard drive backups in mind that’s what online backup services are for.
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