Access Google Drive with a free Google account (for personal use) or Google Workspace account (for business use).
Cloud Storage can be a very convenient way you can store your data (photos, videos, music etc.) remotely using platforms like iCloud and Google Drive. You can then access your data stored in the cloud via the internet using any of your devices (computers, mobile devices etc.).
As the demand for more and higher quality media increases, so too does the requirement for more space to store such media. Since the hardware (e.g. a hard drive in an iPhone) cannot keep up with this demand, people turn to Cloud Storage to store their data - this keeps space free on their mobile device.
Google Drive is Google's answer to the people's calls for cloud storage.
Get the most out of your Drive - get rid of duplicates to save yourself time and money.
So, you've set up your Google Drive and have saved some files there. How do you download those files to your computer or to your phone?
First, ask yourself whether you want to transfer certain files from Google Drive to your computer, or whether you would prefer to always keep your computer and Google Drive in sync.
The first option will do for those who only want certain files from their Google Drive, or who only rarely need Google Drive files on their computer.
For those who always want access to their Google Drive files from their computer, I would recommend using Google's 'Backup & Sync' app. Any files added, removed or edited on Google Drive will be reflected automatically on your computer, so you can keep all your up to date files in both locations at once.
Let's see how to download from Google Drive to PC:
Now let's see how to sync files from Google Drive to PC. The Backup & Sync setup wizard will take you through this process, but I've noted the steps below for you as well:
Depending on how many files you have chosen to sync, the download may take some time. However, when the download is complete, you will be able to access your Google Drive files on your computer.
To do this, open File Explorer on your computer, then click 'Google Drive' from the left-hand column.
Downloading files from your Google Drive to your iPhone is easy, but first, you'll need the Google Drive app on your iPhone.
If you've not already got the Google Drive app on your iPhone, you can download it from the App Store.
How to download files from Google Drive to iPhone:
How to download photos and videos from Google Drive to iPhone:
So, we've seen how to download files and photos from Google Drive to your computer and to your iPhone.
However, you may find that in the process of transferring files from place to place or saving files from different devices; that you will accumulate duplicates of some of your files.
Not only are duplicate files annoying and messy, but they take up valuable space in your Google Drive. Since you only get 15GB free space with Google Drive, duplicates can eat away at this allowance and may eventually cause you to consider upgrading to gain more space even though you may not need to.
There's a simple remedy for this issue - Duplicate Sweeper.
Duplicate Sweeper is a handy tool for your Windows PC or Mac which scans your folders and deletes duplicate files based on your preferences. It can save you hours or even days of looking through folders and files to discover if files are duplicated and considering which ones to move.
Duplicate Sweeper can quickly scan multiple folder or drives to return your duplicates. Simply select whether to keep the newest or the oldest of each duplicate to remove them automatically, or manually select which to remove.
Find out more >Like what you see? Get the full version:
Check out our guides on how to use Duplicate Sweeper to remove duplicate files from Google Drive, and how to delete duplicate photos in Google Photos.
Cloud download into Google Drive in this article refers to download online files/folders, music/songs, videos/movies, photos/pictures/images/albums, graphics, etc. data to Google Drive cloud storage.
In different situation, the solution for Google Drive cloud downloading is different.
Situation 1
If someone shares a file with your Google account, you can log into your Google Drive, find the file in “Shared with me” folder, right-click on it and select “Add to My Drive” to save the file in your Drive.
Situation 2
If you want to download a large amount of data from another cloud to target cloud, as long as you have access to the source items, you are able to do so.
You can first of all download all these files from source cloud to local storage, then, upload them from local device to destination cloud account. Yet, this is time-consuming.
Therefore, you can rely on a third party cloud download software such as MultCloud to directly move the files from source cloud to GD without downloading and uploading. Let's see how it works.
1. Create an account of MultCloud. (Free)
2. Add cloud accounts to MultCloud. Sign in MultCloud, in Add Clouds tab, add all related cloud drive accounts into MultCloud platform.
Note: You can only add one cloud account in one time. So, you should repeat the process to add all accounts.
3. Use Cloud Transfer feature to migrate target data from the original cloud to Google Drive.
Situation 3
If target file locates on a remote web server instead of a cloud storage, as long as you have its URL address, it is still possible to be downloaded into Google cloud.
Still, you can rely on MultCloud. After signing into MultCloud:
1. In Cloud Explorer tab, select destination Google Drive, click on Upload button and click Upload URL in the lower left of the pop-up window.
2. In the next window, enter the URL link of the target file and specify a filename to it. Finally, click on OK and wait for the process to complete.
Notes:
Since MultCloud is a web-based service, there is no need to download and install it on your local machine. Thus, you can save much computer hard drive space.
Also, as an online program, MultCloud can be applied in all operating systems like Windows, Linux, Mac OS, iOS and android; and all devices including desktop, laptop, notebook, pad, cellphone, etc.
Besides cloud drive mentioned above, MultCloud also support Dropbox, MEGA, ownCloud, Baidu, etc. altogether about 30 kinds of clouds.