Ah, the cloud. It sounds so mild, so fluffy, so worry-free — would not it?Here in the true world, although, cloud companies aren’t at all times so easy. With Google Drive, particularly, whether or not you are storing and managing multimedia property or coping with paperwork and spreadsheets, there is a respectable likelihood you may run into some method of murkiness alongside the way in which.Drive does plenty of issues properly, however it definitely has its share of, let’s say, quirks. I’ve heard it all around the years — and now, I’ve put collectively a set of a number of the most typical Drive challenges I’ve encountered together with some quick ‘n’ easy options to beat ’em.Read by way of these fixes, cling onto any that appear related for future reference, and prepare to observe your cloud-related worries float away.Google Drive drawback #1: Difficult downloadsFor one thing that is primarily a storage service, you’d assume the essential act of, y’know, transferring recordsdata with Drive can be easy. Unfortunately, although, Drive is considerably infamous for making downloads an enormous ache within the patootie — a minimum of, when multiple file is concerned.When you choose a number of recordsdata on the Drive web site after which attempt to obtain ’em all concurrently, the location begins to package deal the recordsdata right into a compressed zip archive — after which, all too usually, takes an eternity to complete that course of and begin your precise obtain. It’s a ceaselessly irritating expertise and the very last thing you wish to cope with once you’re simply making an attempt to avoid wasting stuff and transfer on.There’s not a lot you are able to do concerning the course of itself, however you possibly can keep away from the web site solely and switch recordsdata in an easier, sooner, and extra dependable method. You’ve bought a number of totally different choices, all of which put the Drive web site technique to disgrace.First, when you’re utilizing Chrome OS, the perform you want is constructed proper into your Chromebook: Just open up the system Files app, discover the Google Drive part within the left-hand menu, and drag and drop any folders or recordsdata between there and your native storage. JR Raphael/IDG
The Chrome OS Files app has native Drive integration for simple file transfers. (Click picture to enlarge it.)
On a Windows or Mac pc, seize Google’s official Backup and Sync program or the team-based File Stream various for managed enterprise environments. You can then set this system as much as hold any folders out of your Drive storage synced to your pc’s storage — so a folder in your pc principally turns into a mirror for the equal folder in Drive. Anything you save to it or drag to it can mechanically get uploaded to Drive, and the native folder and the Drive folder will at all times be equivalent. JR Raphael/IDG
Google’s official Backup and Sync program makes it super-simple to maneuver recordsdata forwards and backwards between Drive and a Windows or Mac pc. (Click picture to enlarge it.)
And lastly, if you wish to get actually geeky, you possibly can really use an FTP program to signal into your Drive account after which drag and drop issues instantly between it and your pc with none annoying interfaces or pointless time-wasters. If that sounds too difficult or complicated for you, then it is in all probability not one thing you want. But when you use FTP in different elements of your life and discover the likelihood alluring, the precise program you may wish to seize to make it occur is a free and open-source FTP shopper referred to as Cyberduck. It’s out there for each Windows and Mac (and there is actually no want for it on Chrome OS, for the reason that similar fundamental functionality is constructed instantly into the system file supervisor on that platform).Once you’ve got put in this system, click on the Open Connection button, choose “Google Drive” from the dropdown menu on the prime of the connection field, then click on Connect. A web page will pop up in your browser prompting you to permit the app entry to your Drive storage, after which you may be given a particular code that you’re going to want to repeat and paste again right into a immediate that’ll be ready for you within the app.After you’ve got achieved that, you may have a file-system-like view of your Drive storage proper in entrance of you — and you’ll drag and drop something out of your pc into it or something from it into a neighborhood pc folder.As an extra-geeky bonus, Cyberduck can do the identical factor with each Dropbox and OneDrive as properly, in case you might have any want to hook up with both of these companies.Google Drive drawback #2: Office awfulnessI do not find out about you, however I are likely to get a complete lot of Word recordsdata despatched my method. And since I way back despatched Microsoft’s Office apps a-packin’ and converted to Google Docs for all of my very own writing, I often find yourself dragging these recordsdata into the Drive web site to open ’em and do no matter’s wanted inside my most well-liked atmosphere.For years, Drive relied on a Chrome-connected system referred to as Office Compatibility Mode to make that doable. It’s a stripped-down interface the place you possibly can view and carry out fundamental edits on Office recordsdata however the place most superior phrase processing options — together with commenting — are lacking in motion. And fairly truthfully, it is sort of irritating to make use of.There’s really a a lot better possibility, although — one you’d in all probability by no means know existed when you’ve been utilizing Drive for lengthy sufficient to have that Compatibility Mode system in place. So right here it’s: Since mid-2019, Drive has supported native Microsoft Office file enhancing inside the usual, totally featured Google Docs interface and with none conversions or stripped-down setups required.If you are still seeing that previous Compatibility Mode when dragging Office recordsdata into the Drive web site, all you’ve got gotta do is take away the Office Editing extension out of your browser — by opening its Chrome Web Store web page and clicking the Remove from Chrome button (which will likely be current if the extension is put in) — after which refresh the Drive web site, when you already had it open. The subsequent time you drag an Office file into the location, Drive will mechanically open it in an editor that appears and works precisely just like the common Docs editor, solely with a blue “.DOCX” chip subsequent to the file’s identify to let you recognize you are utilizing the Word format. (Just be aware that considerably confusingly, that you must drag the file into the Drive web site, not add to the Docs web site, for this to work.) JR Raphael/IDG
Working with Office recordsdata in Drive is a delight — when you get every thing arrange accurately. (Click picture to enlarge it.)
The file will stay in its authentic format all through any edits you make. If that you must export it to ship it again to somebody after enhancing, you possibly can at all times obtain or share it from Drive or instantly from the Docs enhancing interface. (And whereas we’re been speaking about paperwork particularly right here, by the way in which, all of this similar stuff applies to Excel and PowerPoint recordsdata as properly.)Just one final thing to test: Drive has an possibility inside its settings (which yow will discover by clicking the gear-shaped icon within the Drive website’s upper-right nook after which deciding on — yep, you guessed it — “Settings”) that’ll mechanically convert all uploaded paperwork into the Docs enhancing format. That sometimes is not enabled by default, however if you wish to make certain any Word recordsdata stay within the Word format, as described above, you would possibly wish to take a fast peek and ensure that that possibility is certainly deactivated in your account.Google Drive drawback #3: Conversion challengesSpeaking of file codecs, have you ever ever discovered your self gazing a file in your Drive and wishing you had a approach to flip it into another sort of file? Whether it is a doc that you must rework right into a PDF, a PNG that you must morph right into a JPG, or a WAV you need saved as an MP3, transferring from one method of file to a different is a fragile and infrequently tough dance.It would not need to be, although. First of all, if the conversion you want revolves round any method of normal textual content file — PDF, RTF, DOCX, TXT, and even HTML or EPUB — you possibly can really deal with your transformation instantly inside Docs. Just open the file into Docs (both by double-clicking it inside Drive, if it already has the Docs icon subsequent to it and is ready to open there by default, or by right-clicking it after which deciding on “Open with” adopted by “Google Docs” if not).From there, if the file is a PDF, it will mechanically get transformed right into a plain-text doc on the spot. If it is every other sort of file, you possibly can click on “File” adopted by “Download” to search out choices for saving it into an alternate format.JR Raphael/IDG
You can convert paperwork into plenty of different file varieties instantly inside the Google Docs editor.
But what when you’re coping with one thing past a fundamental textual content file? The reply there lies inside an ultra-handy Google Drive add-on referred to as CloudConvert. Open up the add-on’s web page inside the Google Workspace Marketplace, click on the button to put in it, and comply with the steps so as to add it into your account.You’ll see some warnings concerning the stage of entry you may be granting the service, however do not fret: First of all, CloudConvert can have entry solely to the Drive recordsdata that you simply explicitly ship to it or create with it, to not your total Drive storage — and second, the corporate’s privateness coverage makes it clear that it by no means reads or collects knowledge from uploaded recordsdata or does something shady together with your data. (The firm makes its cash by promoting subscriptions, however until you anticipate doing greater than 25 file conversions a day, you will not need to pay to make use of it.)After you’ve got bought that added, you possibly can right-click on any file inside Drive after which choose “Open with” adopted by “CloudConvert” to pick out a brand new format and start a conversion. The ensuing file will likely be saved again into your Drive storage as quickly because it’s completed.Google Drive drawback #4: Mobile syncingThe Drive syncing techniques we talked a couple of minute in the past are nice on the desktop entrance — however once you’re utilizing Drive out of your cellphone, you are far more restricted in choices.Sure, you should use the Drive app’s built-in “Make available offline” perform — which yow will discover by tapping the three-dot menu icon alongside any particular person file — if that you must hold particular Drive recordsdata accessible in your system even once you aren’t on-line. If you wish to really sync total folders in both course, although, or have any recordsdata out there to be used exterior of Drive itself, the official app will not be of any assist.On Android, an app referred to as Autosync for Google Drive will fill that void. It’s amongst my picks for one of the best Android file administration apps round, in actual fact, and for good motive: The app makes it as simple as might be to create pairs of folders which might be repeatedly synced between your Drive storage and your cellphone — in each instructions, in only one course, and even in an upload-and-then-delete form of association. You simply pick the native folder and the Drive folder you wish to use, choose the suitable parameters, after which sit again and let the app do its work silently within the background over time.JR Raphael/IDG
Autosync permits you to hold folders synced between Drive and your Android system.
Autosync is free to make use of for a single folder pairing and with recordsdata which might be 10MB or smaller. You can take away these restrictions and unlock different superior options with a one-time $5 in-app fee.Google Drive drawback #5: Quick Access irritationDrive’s Quick Access panel — that huge strip o’ urged recordsdata on the prime of the web site’s fundamental web page — is supposed to make it sooner so that you can pull up objects you’ve got accessed just lately or that Google for some motive thinks you are prone to be searching for quickly. If it appears extra like wasted house than a useful useful resource for you, although, take be aware: You can disable it.It’ll take you all of 10 seconds to do: Click the gear-shaped icon within the upper-right nook of the Drive web site, choose “Settings,” then scroll down inside the first part till you see “Suggestions.” Uncheck the field subsequent to it, and bam: Just like that, Drive’s Quick Settings will likely be out of your life ceaselessly.Google Drive drawback #6: The buried file bluesWe all have these perpetually necessary recordsdata — paperwork, pictures, and different resource-like objects we pull up on a regular basis. And at all times having to seek for mentioned VIP recordsdata to search out ’em is not precisely enjoyable or productive.Drive would not have any approach to pin recordsdata to the highest of a listing, however it does have some useful instruments for treating sure recordsdata as excessive precedence and making them particularly simple to search out and entry. First, you possibly can star any file (and even a complete folder) by right-clicking it and deciding on “Add to Starred” on the Drive web site or by tapping the three-dot menu icon alongside it after which deciding on that very same possibility inside the Drive cell app. Doing so will trigger the merchandise to seem in a particular starred part which you can then get to by clicking the “Starred” possibility in the principle left-of-screen menu or by bookmarking this direct hyperlink for the desktop — or by tapping the star-shaped icon inside the principle bottom-of-screen menu within the cell app.You can even create your personal customized shortcuts for recordsdata or folders in order that they successfully seem in a number of locations — if, say, you might have an necessary merchandise that is buried a number of folders deep in your Drive. By making a shortcut for it, you can make it out there from the principle “My Drive” record whereas technically nonetheless leaving it in its correctly organized house. Just right-click on any file or folder and choose “Add shortcut to Drive” to get began with that from a pc; faucet that three-dot menu icon subsequent to any merchandise to search out the identical possibility on cell.If you are utilizing Android, you may also add a direct shortcut to any file or folder proper onto your cellphone’s house display for one-touch entry with out even having to open the app. Tap the three-dot menu icon alongside the merchandise you need, then scroll down and search for the “Add to Home screen” possibility to present it a whirl.Whew — that pesky ol’ cloud is certain beginning to really feel a heck of lot lighter, is not it? For much more on-the-spot tech troubleshooting, click on over to a few of my different current “fast fixes” guides:
Copyright © 2020 IDG Communications, Inc.