For most people, Google Drive is simply an efficient way of sharing data or offering the ability to work on a file from different computers. What most people do not know is that Google Drive can also be used as a cost effective way of backing-up files. Most people who know about Google Drive backup system wonder if it is a viable method of saving files.

Google Drive is actually a great way to back up your files even though it cannot be used for cloning the entire hard drive. Nevertheless, it is highly effective when it comes to preserving important data.

Backup Google Drive – Use Google Drive to backup your data

To be able to use Google Drive for backing up data, you will require a desktop sync utility. The utility you use should have the ability to add a special folder to your computer’s hard drive – it works as a two-way conduit. Any folders or files placed in this sync utility will sync in Google Drive while the files or folders added to Google Drive will sync back to the special folder on the computer.

Backup Google – How to use Google Drive to backup data

There are two possible ways of using Google Drive to back up your folders and files:

Method 1:

Create a copy of the files you want to back up and then move these copies to the Google Drive folder. These copies will sync to drive.google.com once the computer is connected to the internet. The advantage of this method is the fact that it does not alter the way you use folders in your system. The only disadvantage is the fact that you will have to make copies to be able to move them to the Google Drive folder for backing up.

Method 2:

The other way to back-up your files on Google Drive is to move the files you want to save directly into the hard drive folder. It is possible to move entire folders to the drive folder. The benefit of this method is the fact that each file saved automatically syncs to drive.google.com. The disadvantage of this method is that moving files directly to the Google Drive folder may not align with the way you organize your files and folders in your computer.

Whichever method you use, Google Drive is an ideal way of backing up important data.