How to back up your computer on Google Drive for free

Backing up the entire computer has become easier thanks to Google Drive's Backup and Sync.

Written by Tanmay Patange

Updated: May 15, 2018 11:24 AM IST

3 min read

Google cloud services like Drive and Photos come handy whenever we want to back up our data and access them from anywhere in the world. Recently, Google went on to allow users back up not only their photos or documents but the entire computer. A new feature dubbed Backup and Sync has replaced Google Drive for PC so that users can now upload and store files from their computer, camera, and SD cards in the cloud.

“In the coming weeks, we will launch Backup and Sync from Google, a tool intended to help everyday users back up files and photos from their computers, so they’re safe and accessible from anywhere,” Google said in the official blog post. In case you are wondering, Backup and Sync is a desktop app which is available for both PC and Mac users.

We tried it out on Windows 10, and based on the procedure we followed, here is how to store the entire computer on Google Drive for free:

Step 1: Go to https://www.google.com/drive/download/

Step 2: Hit the Download Backup and Sync option.

Step 3: Read and agree to the Google Terms of Service. It will download Backup and Sync.

Step 4: Install Backup and Sync. The installation process will take a couple of minutes or so.

Step 5: You will be prompted to get started with Backup and Sync. Hit the option.

Step 6: Sign in with your Google account

Step 7: Choose all the folders from your computer you want to back up. You get to choose if you want to upload photos with original quality or reduced file size.

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Step 8: If you want, you can also sync My Drive with your computer and access the data store in the cloud from your computer.

Step 9: Once done, a message will pop up saying “Find your files in Google Drive.”

Step 10: You will come across a new option called “Computer” in Google Drive, which contains all the data you may have chose to back up.

Did you find this article helpful? Are you going to use Back and Sync to store your offline data in Google cloud? Let us know in comments below.

Featured Image: Flickr/blunkswife

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