How to Backup and Sync Google Photos and Drive from Computer

If you look closely, you will rarely see a person with only one media device. For the rest of us, we have to juggle laptops, smartphones, tablets, and endless USB drives. Eventually this means you’ll spend hours synchronizing your multiple systems or transferring files and folders from one point to another.

Not only is this a time-consuming process, but it also leads to a great deal of redundancy. In response to this ongoing problem, Google released a new app called Backup and Sync for Mac and PC. This app will back up all files and folders in Google Drive and Google Photos and create an image of your drive on your computer so all your files are under one roof.

Very nice, right? Here’s a quick rundown on how to back up and sync Google Photos and Drive from your computer.

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1. Get the backup and sync app

Although the Google Backup and Sync app is expected to hit your computer in late June, you can get the app here. If you already have Google Drive installed on your PC, the new backup tool will simply replace it.

Once this is done, sign in to the tool with your Google credentials. Again, if you’ve already installed Google Drive, you won’t be prompted to go through the login procedure.

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2. Select folders to backup

Once you’re logged in, you’ll have the option to select the folders you want to back up to the drive. As you can see, like default folders table Y documents will be selected by default.

However, if you want to back up only a specific folder, select the option Select the folder. So instead of syncing everything, only a specific folder in your Google Drive will be backed up.

All you have to do is navigate to the specific route and choose. Once this is done, it’s time to move on to the photos.

3. Check the picture settings

If you choose to back up photos and images, the Google Backup and Sync app gives you the option to choose how you want the backup to take place. This gives you two options: High quality and original quality.

The high quality option uses a compression algorithm that reduces image size without compromising image quality. Unlike the original quality option, this one won’t take up much space on your drive.

Check out 7 must-have Google+ Photos tips to get the most out of it.

4. Configure Google Drive settings

The Backup & Sync app also gives you the option to extract the image of all Google Drive files and folders on your system. All you need to do is select the folder location where these files will be stored.

Select the appropriate option: the entire drive or certain folders and you’re done. All Google Drive folders will be synced to your system. Add any folder or file to this folder, and that will be synced too.

preferences tab

Unlike some basic apps, the Google Backup and Sync app doesn’t register in the taskbar of Windows 10. So after the initial setup, if you want to make any changes, you can find them in the shortcut tray.

To open settings, right-click on the cloud icon, tap the three-dot menu in the right corner and select preferences. Once inside, you can change your photos, files, and Drive settings.

For example, you can use the preferences tab to choose how you want to delete backed up photos. This gives you three options:

• Delete items everywhere
• Don’t delete items from everywhere
• Ask me before removing items everywhere

Finally, you can also set the tool to automatically upload files from USB sticks and SD cards via the small option below.

What this option essentially means is that you can plug a USB drive into your computer and let Google do the rest.

Remember: The Google Backup and Sync app does not download Google Docs files for offline access. Although it displays the files as if they were on a PC, a double click takes you to online editing mode.

That’s a wrap!

The Backup and Sync app is basically a combination of Google Drive and Google Photos Uploader, although the latter is more flexible and easier to use. Also, with everything important stored in cloud storage, it reduces system clutter and makes it more organized. So, have you started using it? If you ask me, with the amount of devices I’m switching, I’m ready!

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