Why does Google Drive disappear from File Explorer?

There are various reasons why Google Drive disappeared from File Explorer, including issues with the Google Drive application like Google Drive installation errors, Google Drive stopping working, internet connection or system errors, etc. Don't worry, let's explore some effective solutions in this post to solve it quickly.

How to fix Google Drive disappeared from File Explorer: 4 ways

How to get Google Drive to show up in File Explorer? After installing and running the Google Drive desktop application on your computer, you will find that Google Drive is added to File Explorer as a virtual hard drive. If your Google Drive is missing from File Explorer, here are quick fixes for you.

Before you try the following solutions, you could restart your computer and then check if your Google Drive appears in File Explorer. If not, go on with the methods below.

Solution 1: Run Google Drive on your desktop

To fix Google Drive disappeared from File Explorer on Windows 10/11, first, you should ensure your Google Drive is running. You can follow the steps below to check:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.

2. Scroll through the list of Processes and verify whether Google Drive is running.

3. If it's not running, start the application by clicking Windows + R to open Run, inputting Google Drive, and hitting Enter and check if it resolves the problem.

Solution 2: Add Google Drive to Quick Access

You can solve Google Drive not showing up in File Explorer by adding a Google Drive folder to Quick Access.

1. Press the Win + E keys to open the File Explorer.

2. Then, navigate to the Google Drive folder located by default at:

C:\Users\username\Google Drive

3. Right-click on the Google Drive folder and select Pin to Quick access from the context menu.

Solution 3: Set a virtual drive on your computer

If you aim to solve how to add Google Drive to File Explorer, you can set up a virtual drive for Google Drive on your computer. Here is a guide for setting Google Drive as a virtual drive in File Explorer:

☞Tip: You can run Google Drive for desktop multiple accounts on your PC. But it only allows you to add no more than 4 accounts. After you add Google Drive accounts, each accounts will create a virtual hard drive named Google Drive with different drive letters.

1. Right-click on the Google Drive icon in your taskbar, select the gear icon, and then choose Preferences.

2. Within the Google Drive Preferences page, click on the gear icon.

3. Scroll down to Google Drive streaming location and ensure the Drive letter option is checked. Choose a drive letter for your Google Drive disk. Click Done to establish it as a virtual drive in File Explorer.

Solution 4. Reinstall Google Drive

If you have installed an outdated Google Drive desktop app or the installed desktop app does not work, you can reinstall Google Drive to solve how do I add Google Drive to my File Explorer.

1. Go to system Settings > Apps > Apps & features > find Google Drive in the list, and then click Uninstall.

2. Visit the Google Drive download page in your web browser, download the latest version of Google Drive for desktop, install and log in to it.

Bonus tip: Upload files to Google Drive without downloading its app

Once you install Google Drive on your computer, Google Drive will typically show up in File Explorer as a separate drive or folder. This integration allows you to access your Google Drive files directly from the File Explorer interface. But like the error above, if your Google Drive disappeared from File Explorer, you can not enjoy this convenience.

If you want to upload files to Google Drive with ease, you can try an easy cloud backup and sync tool - CBackup. It allows you to upload files to Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, and multiple cloud drives without downloading desktop app. In addition, there are no file size limitations, so you can upload as many large files as you have.

Besides that, CBackup provides many useful services for free:

Cloud to cloud sync: The cloud-to-cloud sync feature in CBackup allows for seamless file transfer between two distinct cloud drive accounts, eliminating the need for repetitive uploading and downloading of files.

Backup to public clouds: As a professional backup tool, it facilitates data backup from your PC to various popular cloud drives, such as backing up files to Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, and other popular platforms. You can easily restore your files in case of data corruption or unexpected deletion from your local place.

Combine cloud storage space: To expand your free cloud storage, this tool can help you combine multiple cloud storage accounts as many as you have to get unlimited cloud storage space to store your data.   

Here are the steps you can follow to upload your files to Google Drive using CBackup without downloading the desktop app:

1. Download and install the CBackup desktop app on your PC. Sign up for an account for free and log in to its desktop app.

2. Click on the Storage tab. Select Google Drive and click Authorize Now. Follow the provided instructions to grant CBackup access to your Google Drive account.

3. Access the Sync tab from the left menu and choose Sync PC to Public Cloud.

4. Select the files on your PC as the source. You can also choose to sync entire hard drive to Google Drive. Then, choose the folder in your Google Drive account as the destination.

5. (Optional) To automate your sync task, click the Settings button, click Scheduler, and then tick Set a Sync schedule for automated Sync to set a specific frequency for your automated sync task.

6. Once configured, click the Start Sync button to begin uploading your files to Google Drive.

Conclusion

The post offers some solutions to solve the issue: Google Drive disappeared from File Explorer. Those methods are simple and should take you a few minutes to operate. In addition, this post provides you with a free way to upload files to Google Drive with ease. You can try CBackup to upload files to Dropbox/OneDrive/Google Drive only via your cloud accounts.