This article will discuss how to add google drive to file explorer just like it’s present for One drive or Dropbox in Windows 10 or Windows 11.
Out of all the cloud-based storage solution services, Google Drive is one of the most popular and reliable service providers. It provides 15GB of free storage to start with, which is the highest among its peers compared to Apple’s iCloud or Microsoft’s One Drive. Microsoft, by default, provides One Drive built-in with a distinct non-removable shortcut on File explorer in its Windows OS (screenshot below).
But if you like Google Drive more and most of your files are stored there, you might want to add Google Drive built into the File manager itself instead of One Drive for ease of access. So, we are here for your help. This article will discuss exactly how to add Google Drive to file explorer in detail.
How to add Google Drive to File Explorer on Windows 10/11?
To add Google Drive to file explorer, we need to download Google Drive’s backup and sync installer first and then proceed with the whole process. So let’s get started-
- Step 1: If you are not signed in to your Google account yet, go to the Google Drive page and scroll all the way down to find Download options. From there, click on Drive for Mac/PC or click here- Drive for Mac/PC. Alternatively, if you’ve already signed in on your Google Account, from the google drive home page, click on the gear icon next to your profile picture and select Get Backup and Sync for Windows.
If Not signed in If Already Signed in - Step 2: On the next page, you’ll find two options- 1. Backup and Sync, and 2. Drive for desktop. On the Backup and Sync option, click on Download. This will download Google Drive’s backup and sync installer.
- Step 3: Now, go to your default download folder and find installbackupandsync.exe and run it by double-clicking on it. This will further download the google drive Backup and Sync, and after successful completion, a new Backup and Sync window will open.
- Step 4: From this new window, click on GET STARTED.
- Step 5: Now, Click on Sign in with your browser. This will open a Google Sign-in page on your default browser where you have to sign in with your Google account, or if you are already signed in earlier, you have to select your google account from the page.
- Step 6: After signing in, click on Allow to give access to your google account. A new page will appear, letting you know that sign-in was successful. Close the browser window and go to the Backup and Sync window again.
- Step 7: This part is important; now you have to select different folders to back up on this screen. By default, 3 folders are selected- Desktop, Document, and Pictures. You can also select folders of your own choice by clicking on CHOOSE FOLDER option. Now, Choose the upload size of your photos and videos from the options. There is also an option to choose Google Photos. Customize the settings according to your need and click on NEXT to proceed to the next screen.
- Step 8: On this screen, you’ll have the option to Sync your drive to your PC; you can sync the whole drive to your PC, or you can select a specific folder from your drive to synchronize, or you can choose not to sync your drive entirely by deselecting Sync My Drive to this computer option. After selecting your preferred choices, click on START. If you’ve chosen not to sync any of your folders on your drive, a popup message will appear reminding you that nothing on your computer will sync with Google drive (Don’t worry you can always re-select folders by going into preference settings of Backup and Sync icon from the taskbar). Click on CONTINUE to complete the process. Depending on the size of your drive, this will take some time to sync with your PC completely.
The above-mentioned steps of this ‘How to add Google Drive to file explorer’ guide only Installed Google Drive Backup and Sync to your Windows PC. To get a Google drive shortcut on file explorer like One Drive, we have to do a little trick with the registry.
How to add Google Drive shortcut on File Explorer?
- Step 1: You need to Download a tiny registry file for this to work. Click here- Google Drive Registry file.
- Step 2: Now, from the download folder and double click on Google Drive.reg. Now, click on Run to run the registry file.
- Step 3: Next, click Yes from the Registry editor warning Screen to continue with the registry edit, and once it’s done, click Ok.
- Step 4: This will add a Google Drive shortcut on file explorer just like One Drive. If you ever need to remove this shortcut, Download Remove Google Drive from File Explorer [REG File] and run the Remove Google Drive.reg file.
Now that you are using Google Backup and sync, you can use it to back up the specific folder on your computer to Google Drive.
How to backup a specific folder to Gdrive?
Using the Google Backup and Sync tool, you can synchronize your important folder and keep a backup on Google Drive. Every time you update the file into that particular folder or add some files, the backup and sync tool automatically sync the updated files/folder to google drive.
We have written a separate article with step by step guide on this matter, do read it by clicking on the following link – How to backup a specific folder in Google Drive?
This wraps up our guide on ‘How to add Google Drive to file explorer’ If you have any doubts or queries, feel free to drop a comment below. Meanwhile do read our article on-
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