Google Drive Going Away Message

The Google Drive App is a seriously awesome resource for backing up your digital stuff. Running on your MacBook, Google Drive is a lot like a virtual flash drive - but without the likelihood of dying in your washer, landing in the grocery store parking lot, or suffering some other kind of failure. I've posted a few times on the benefits of using Google Drive with your MacBook here, and here, and here and here and here,  It's an excellent resource for backing up your MacBook and the stand alone files some are still using like word docs, presentations, exam view tests, PDFs, videos, and other things you might store locally.  Numerous times during the last four years, the Google Drive App has allowed people to quickly and painlessly recover from hardware failures and software collapses. It does a great job of backing up  and - when disaster strikes - restoring your stuff.

Last fall, Google announced the retirement of the Google Drive App for Mac and PC computers.  As the  end of February nears, Google is scaring the daylight out of users, warning them that Google Drive for Mac/PC is going away soon.

Google's indelicate, panic inducing drive warning

While the Google Drive App for Mac and PC may be going away, Google Drive cloud based storage is, at this point, not going anywhere. And while the app itself is being retired, it is being replaced with two refreshed versions. Google File Stream is intended for business and education accounts. Google Backup and Sync is intended for consumer accounts. In my review of both products, I find they both work well, are easy to install and use, and each offers a fresher interface. Personally, I like the look and feel of Google Backup and Sync better than File Stream. It's just a bit cleaner. However, File Stream offers the ability to backup and sync Team Drives, which many EWG users are beginning to explore. If syncing Team Drives is important to you, consider using File Stream.

The deprecation of the Google Drive app running on your MacBook or PC is no reason to stop using Google Drive as your cloud based backup. Simply upgrade to File Stream or Backup and Sync. For those still using discrete, standalone files, an automatic backup and sync tool like those mentioned is still beyond important. Update your MacBook today to keep your backups current.

If you have questions about which Google Drive backup and sync tool is right for you, (and you're an EWG employee ;-)), contact me.