Can I Connect a Drive to Upload to Google Drive
Our Verdict
Easy to use and with plenty of storage available, Google Drive is a very solid cloud storage provider, and a specially good choice for users of Google'due south integrated office apps.
For
- Very piece of cake to work with
- Great part apps integrated
Against
- No end-to-terminate encryption
- Security could be tighter
Tom'south Guide Verdict
Easy to use and with plenty of storage bachelor, Google Drive is a very solid cloud storage provider, and a particularly expert choice for users of Google's integrated office apps.
Pros
- +
Very easy to work with
- +
Not bad office apps integrated
Cons
- -
No end-to-end encryption
- -
Security could be tighter
Every bit well equally being a search engine and email provider, Google offers one of the all-time cloud storage (opens in new tab) solutions available. Google Bulldoze (opens in new tab) is a comprehensive service that allows yous to store your files online and admission them across your devices.
But how does information technology stack upwardly confronting its competitors? In this Google Bulldoze review, we appraise its pricing, features, interface, security, and support to help yous decide whether it's the cloud storage provider for you.
Google Bulldoze: Plans and pricing
With a free Google account, y'all go 15GB of cloud storage. This is spread across all the Google apps—not just Google Drive, but Gmail and Google Photos, too.
If you lot need extra space, you can sign upward for a Google One (opens in new tab) personal plan. There are a few dissimilar options: you lot can access 100GB of storage for $i.99 a month or $nineteen.99 a year, 200GB for $2.99 a calendar month or $29.99 a year, or 2TB for $9.99 a month or $99.99 a yr.
For businesses, Google Workspace (opens in new tab) plans give you all Google apps plus features tailored to business users, such as custom business email addresses and back-end infrastructure for team direction. These cost (opens in new tab) $half dozen per user a calendar month for 30GB of storage each, $12 per user a month for 2TB each, or $18 per user a month for 5TB each.
Google Drive: Features
Google Drive has a number of file-sharing options, all of which are very simple to use. You can share files with other users or groups, or you tin can get shareable links. You tin can also decide whether users tin edit a file or just view it. Each file's info tab has a useful summary of users who currently have access to it, and yous can run across who terminal edited it.
Google's discussion processor, spreadsheet, and presentation apps—Docs, Sheets, and Slides—are well integrated into Google Drive. You lot can easily create and open files from the Drive interface. They're all slick, polished apps, able to compete with Microsoft'south industry-leading equivalents.
Alternatively, you can upload files created in Microsoft software, and either convert them easily into Google documents, or edit them using Google'south apps while retaining the file blazon.
Google Drive keeps track of each version of the files you upload, including PDFs and images. It's easy to access the version history from within the Drive interface, and to download or restore any previous iterations of files.
A search bar at the top of the Drive interface allows you to instantly pinpoint the item file you're looking for. You can search past file name, file type, keywords, and words contained within a file. This fifty-fifty includes text inside PDFs and images, using Optical Character Recognition (OCR).
Google Drive: Interface and in use
At that place are three means to access your Google Drive files—through a spider web browser, a mobile app, or a desktop tool called Backup and Sync, which allows you to integrate your Drive folder structure into Windows File Explorer or Finder on a Mac.
The web browser interface is very well designed, with a clear and easily navigable folder structure and distinctive icons that enable you to find the tools y'all demand without much trouble. You lot can add files by dragging and dropping, or by going through the simple menu options. It's easy to organize, copy, and create favorite files, and to admission tools such equally sharing controls.
The mobile app has a similar only scaled-downwards design, which makes it easy to switch between devices and not lose track of your documents.
After a brief setup process, the synchronization between devices is automatic and quick. It means you can save a file straight into a Google Drive binder on your desktop, and access it almost immediately on your mobile device.
Google Drive: Back up
At that place's a comprehensive Help Middle available (opens in new tab) on Google'southward website, which offers answers to most of the technical problems you could see with Google Drive. In that location'southward also an agile and helpful community forum.
Getting in touch with tech back up isn't an option if y'all're on the free plan, but for paying subscribers, Google's experts are available 24/7 via live chat, electronic mail, or phone. The service is generally efficient, taking around ten minutes to be linked with an agent.
Google Bulldoze: Security
Google offers multiple options for keeping your documents secure, including diverse levels of 2-factor authentication. For business users, admins have a comprehensive gear up of tools for monitoring who has access to what files and setting alerts for attempts at unauthorized admission.
Your files and folders are stored and transferred in an encrypted format, simply the grab is that information technology's not end-to-end encryption. This means that Google technicians tin can decrypt files if compelled to practise and then by law enforcement, and that leaves the system potentially vulnerable to hackers.
Alternatives to Google Drive
The almost pop competitor is Dropbox (opens in new tab). Similar Google Drive, this is a very slick service, with useful browser and mobile interfaces and desktop integration. Withal, Dropbox only offers users 2GB of storage on the complimentary plan, a steep drop from Google Drive'southward 15GB. Its paid plans are also pricier, starting at $xi.99 a calendar month for 2TB. Read our Dropbox review (opens in new tab) to learn more about what nosotros fabricated of information technology.
Some other competitor is iCloud (opens in new tab). This offers 5GB on its costless plan, and the paid plans start at a very depression $0.99 for 50GB, going up to $9.99 a calendar month for 2TB. Its features aren't as in-depth, but its seamless integration with Apple devices get in a adept choice for Mac and iPhone users. You tin find out more than in our Apple iCloud review (opens in new tab).
Google Bulldoze: Terminal verdict
Google Drive'south smooth, efficient interfaces make information technology like shooting fish in a barrel to upload and edit files, and to keep your files synchronized beyond your devices. It also has a wealth of useful features, such equally file sharing, versioning, and avant-garde search.
We would like to see Google tighten its security and add total cease-to-stop encryption. However, this shouldn't exist a major problem for most users. With diverse plans available at affordable prices, Google Drive is one of the best cloud storage solutions on the market.
Farther reading on cloud storage
Learn more near Google Bulldoze in comparison to other deject storage providers in our comparison features pitting Google Drive vs Dropbox (opens in new tab) and Google Drive vs OneDrive (opens in new tab).
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/google-drive-review
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