Syncing Google Drive files to your desktop

Waqar Ahsan Updated by Waqar Ahsan

It is sometimes very convenient to be able to open files on Google Drive or add files to Google Drive folders directly from your desktop. To enable this, download the Google Drive desktop client and install it. To set the Google Drive client to selectively sync certain folders:

  1. Click on the Drive icon at the top of your screen (Mac) or system tray (PC) to open the Drive app.
  1. Select More Options (gear icon) at the top of the window and click Preferences from the dropdown list.
  2. In the Preference window, select Google Drive on the left sidebar.
  1. Make sure that the Stream files option is selected as the My Drive sync option, and click the link under it to access the virtual drive/folder, or Open in Finder at the top of the window.
  2. In the Google Drive folder window, there will be two folders: My Drive and Shared drives. You can navigate through them to locate the file or folder you would like to sync.
  1. When you have the file/folder that you want to sync, right-click it and select Make available offline.
  1. Once the sync completes, the file/folder will have a check mark next to it.

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