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Google has two distinct Desktop applications for syncing your data to Google Drive and your Desktop. They are called Drive File Stream and Backup and Sync. The differences between these two options and guidance as to which would work best for your needs is discussed below. 

Warning
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titleUpcoming Changes to Google Drive sync clients

Google will be combining the Drive File Stream and Backup and Sync desktop apps into a single service which they will name "Google Drive for desktop". No dates have been announced for these changes as of this writing. Read more at https://support.google.com/googleone/answer/10309431.

  • Those using File Stream will simply see the name change after an update.
  • Those using Backup and Sync will have 3 months to follow the directions Google intends to share for moving over to Drive for desktop, once it's ready.


Which should you use?


Drew University uses Google’s G Suite (soon to be renamed Google Workspace), therefore, employees and students have the option of using either Drive File Stream or Backup and Sync – or both. If you have been using the older Google Drive for PC/Mac utility to synchronize files between Google Drive and your workstation, but a significant number of those files aren’t needed on your workstation and are taking up a lot of space, you may find that Drive File Stream is a good choice as you can select individual files to synchronize. Additionally, if you use Google Shared Drives or anticipate using them in the future, then Drive File Stream would also be a good choice as it supports synchronizing files from Shared Drives to PCs and Macs, which Backup and Sync does not.

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