How Do I Sync Local Folders with Google Drive?

If you store downloaded files or frequently accessed items on the Desktop, saving your frequently used folders (such as desktop folders) on Google Drive is a good protection solution. Google Drive is a secure cloud storage and synchronization service that gives you access to all your online files anywhere from any smartphone, tablet, or computer.

With an appropriate file sync method, you can upload your desktop folder to Google Drive in real-time. In this way, not only can you protect your desktop files, but you can also sync those files between your devices and access files easily.

How to Sync Desktop Folder to Google Drive Automatically with Ease

This section will present three straightforward and effortless methods that will help you auto sync local folder to Google Drive, like the desktop folders. Please don’t miss any steps while uploading files using the given methods.

Way 1. Sync Desktop Folder to Google Drive with Sync Client

Google Drive’s sync client - Drive for desktop allows you to add folders to the Google Drive cloud on Windows and Mac. And it lets you choose to Stream files or Mirror files from the cloud to your computer for local access. Now, let's see how to sync desktop files with Google Drive:

Step 1. Download and install Google Drive for desktop on your PC.

Step 2. Run it, click Sign in with browser and follow the on-screen guide to sign in with your credential.

Step 3. Tap on the Add folder button under the My Computer section and select the Desktop folder or some subfolders for backup.

Step 4. After selecting, choose the Sync with Google Drive option > click Done. Then, click Save to start syncing the selected desktop items to Google Drive.

Notes:✎...

You can also choose to backup files and folders from SD card or external hard drive to Google Drive when you select stuff for backup.

Way 2. Sync Desktop Folder with Google Drive through Google Drive Disk

Another way that you can use to link desktop folder to Google Drive is via the virtual Google Drive disks. As you can see, when you run the Google Drive desktop app on computer, there would be one or multiple Google Drive hard disks on File Explorer or Finder (The number of Google Drive drives is the number of accounts you are logged in, up to a maximum of four).

If you add your desktop folders to the Google Drive disk, they will be uploaded to Google Drive automatically.

Step 1. Go to File Explorer or Finder and open the Google Drive hard drive that you want to sync files.

Step 2. Copy and paste items to the My Drive section to add them to the cloud.

Way 3. Add Desktop Folder to Google Drive via File Sync Software

How to make it easier to sync desktop folders to Google Drive, as well as the subsequent changes? How to sync desktop folder to Google Drive automatically? CBackup, the best free file backup and sync service, is what you need.

✔ With its Sync files, you can synchronize files from PC or external storage devices to Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, and more public clouds.
✔ You can use its scheduled sync feature to perform One time only, Daily, Weekly, or Monthly sync.
✔ It offers file filter to exclude unnecessary files for sync to save your storage space.
✔ You can run sync tasks in the background and set up email notifications for sync progress.
✔ It allows you to add and manage multiple or even unlimited Google Drive work and personal accounts on a single interface.

Learn how to enable Google Drive to sync desktop folders via CBackup below:

Step 1. Download and install CBackup. Sign up for an account and log in.

Step 2. Click Storage > Google Drive > Authorize Now. And, grant CBackup access to your cloud storage.

Step 3. Click Sync on the left pane and select Sync PC to Public Cloud.

Step 4. Name the task to distinguish it from other tasks. Select the Desktop folder you want to sync. Expand the Google Drive cloud and select an original folder or create a new folder to save the synced folders.

Step 5. Hit Start Sync to begin the desktop sync process.

Notes:✎...

If you want to do auto sync for files, you could click Settings and enable scheduled sync for your task before starting the sync.

2 Tips about Syncing Desktop Folder to Google Drive

In addition to syncing desktop folders with Google Drive, you can also do the following for your cloud backup with CBackup.

Tip 1: Get More Google Drive Storage at No Cost

CBackup comes with a cloud storage combination function that lets you merge as many cloud accounts as you have to get unlimited cloud storage space for free.

Step 1. Run CBackup, tap on + Add Cloud on the Storage screen.

Step 2. Select Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox to click Add, then complete the authorization. You can add all your supported cloud accounts to this backup service.

Step 3. Press the + Add Combined Cloud button, tick all accounts, and hit Next and then Combine.

After that, the combined cloud will be displayed on the Storage list. You can click Backup > Backup PC to Combined Cloud to save data to it.

Tip 2. Backup Google Drive files to other Clouds for Protection

As we all know, files stored in the cloud are not 100% secure either. For data security, you could utilize CBackup to backup files from one cloud to another effortlessly. For example, you can backup Google Drive to OneDrive with simple steps.

Step 1. Run CBackup and add your cloud accounts to CBackup.

Step 2. Click Backup > Backup Public Cloud to Public Cloud.

Step 3. Pick the whole Google Drive cloud or some Google Drive files. Then, choose another cloud drive as the backup destination.

Step 4. Tap Start Backup to create a Google Drive cloud backup.

Summary

Now you know several methods to sync Desktop folder to Google Drive. CBackup provides you with the easiest way to finish the task — you can sync folders from different locations to Google Drive in one sync task and you can set up auto sync to upload changes to the cloud after you edit files.