We had predicted Google Drive launch before it happened and the Internet is buzzing with how awesome is the FREE 5 GB of storage space that Google Drive is offering. The five gigabytes of storage is available free at drive.google.com and upgrades to more space on servers are available at rates set by size and country.
Google Docs online text program was described as an integral component of Drive, letting people create and collaborate on documents. Google put its search expertise to work to provide tools for people to quickly find files in their Drive accounts. Included is Goggle technology to power searches using images instead of key words.
To view Google Drive folder sizes without having to download your entire Google Drive, have a look at the 'preferences' in the 'backup and sync' app. (I'm on a Mac, so. The following are the maximum file sizes you can store in Google Drive: Documents Up to 1.02 million characters. If you convert a text document to Google Docs format, it can be up to 50 MB. Spreadsheets Up to 5 million cells or 18,278 columns (column ZZZ) for spreadsheets that are created in or converted to Google.
However, have you wondered how much of storage space you are currently consuming on Google Drive and how much space is remaining? As soon as we migrated to Google Drive this was the first question that struck my mind. I wish they had a nice little counter, much like the one that they have on their Gmail login page, to show this.
But since they currently don't show the storage usage space upfront, we decided we would spill the beans via this post. Here is a super quick tutorial on finding how much space you have left in your Google Drive.
1. To get started open Google Drive from your Google menu.
1. To get started open Google Drive from your Google menu.
2. When your Google drive opens click on the wrench icon as shown below and click on Settings:
3. And that would be it! The next page that opens would display your current space usage:
Please note that only stored files (.PDF, .DOC, .JPG, etc.) count towards your Google Drive storage limit. And Google Docs formats don't use up your storage space, which is a great thing if you'd ask me.
As a side note, the talk about creating a Google Drive started about five years ago. The booming trend of smartphones or tablets being at the center of mobile lifestyles and the growing popularity of services like Gmail or YouTube hosted in the Internet cloud made the time ripe for Google Drive, executives said.
Google's Backup and Sync tool allows you to sync specific Folder on computer with Google Drive. You may want to use this option, in case you only want to back up specific Folders to Google Drive and not the entire desktop.
Sync Specific Folder On Computer With Google Drive
By default, Google's Backup and Sync tool syncs your entire Desktop, Documents and Pictures Folders to Google Drive.
However, in case you do not like your entire Desktop syncing to Google Drive, it is possible to setup Google's Backup and Sync tool to sync only a specific folder on your computer with Google Drive.
Find Large Files Google Drive
Once any Folder on your computer is synced with Google Drive, any files that you add to the Synced Folder will be copied to your Google Drive account as a backup.
Any changes that you make to Synced Folder (Add, Delete or Modify Files) will get automatically synced with the back of the Folder on Google Drive.
How to Sync Specific Folder on Computer With Google Drive
The first step is to download Backup and Sync tool as available on Google Drive for both Mac and Windows PC.
Once 'Backup and Sync' is downloaded to your computer, launch the tool by clicking on it and it will take you to an information screen. Click on Get Started to start the process of setting up a specific folder on your computer to backup and sync to Google Drive.
On the next screen, Login to your Gmail Account by entering your Gmail User Name and Password. Once you are logged in, you will see an information screen, click on Got it to move to the next step.
Where Is My Google Drive Folder
On the next screen, you can uncheck Desktop and also uncheck Documents and Pictures, in case you do not want Pictures and Documents on your computer to be syncing with Google Drive.
After unchecking Desktop and other Folders, click on Choose Folder Link and on the next screen click on the Specific Folder on your computer that you want to Sync with Google Drive.
Once the Folder is selected, you can select Photo and Video upload size to Google Drive (see explanation below) and click on the Next button.
If you choose High Quality, Google will convert uploaded Photos to 16 MP size and in-turn provide you with unlimited Free storage for these photos on Google Drive.
If you choose Original Quality, Photos will be uploaded to Google Drive in the same format as shot by your Camera, but the uploads will count towards your allowed Google Drive storage limit.
On the next screen, uncheck Sync My Drive to this computer option and click on the Start button.
Now, only the Specific Folder that you had selected in above steps will get Synced with your Google Drive Account.
As mentioned above, all the Files that you Add to this specific Folder on your computer will also be available on Google Drive as a backup copy.
Any changes made to the Synced Folder (Add, Delete or Modify Files) will get automatically synced to the backup on Google Drive.
Google Drive How To See Folder Size Tool
You can take a look at the Google Drive backup of the specific Folder at any time by clicking on the Cloud Icon located in the taskbar and then clicking on the Google Drive icon.
To see the backup, expand the Computer section and click on your computer name.
How To View Folder Size
In case you have more than one computer, you can provide a unique name to each of your computers by renaming them (See image above).
