Google Drive Sync Clients | UNC Asheville ITS

Google offers two Drive sync clients to enable access to your Google Drive files on all your devices.

Drive File Stream vs. Backup and Sync

Feature	Drive File Stream	Backup and Sync
Access files in My Drive	✔	✔
Access files in Shared drives	✔	✘
Stream files on demand	✔	✘
Sync only selected folders in My Drive	✔	✔
Sync only individual files in My Drive	✔	✘
Use native applications like MS Word and Photoshop	✔	✔
Sync other folders, such as Documents or Desktop	✘	✔

Drive File Stream

Access Google Drive like any other local or network drive.

When you access Google Drive on your computer, you see both My Drive and Shared drives.

To sync content from Documents, Desktop, or other folders, you must explicitly move it to My Drive.

Backup and Sync

Access Google Drive like a folder on your hard drive.

When you access Google Drive on your computer, you see My Drive. You can find Shared drives only in Drive on the web.

You can select other folders on your computer to automatically back up and sync besides My Drive (such as Documents or Desktop). These folders appear in the Computers section in Drive on the web.