Google Drive is a cloud based backup system by Google. It was first launched in 2006 and was believed to be offered as a complimentary Gmail service. Two years later, Google Drive was upgraded to be able to share storage space with Gmail. Since then, there have been numerous other cloud storage services availed by developers in an attempt to beat Google Drive in terms of client numbers. Recently, Google took the plunge and announced the 5GB service as well as apps for Android devices, PC and Mac.

Google download – How Google drive works

While Google drive does offer free storage to Gmail users and users of other Google services, it is possible to upgrade to larger storage spaces for a fee. Google offers upgrades to 25GB, 100GB and 1TB for $2.49, $4.99 and $49.99 respectively. Whenever users upgrade to premium storage, their Gmail account storage capacity is expanded by 25GB with shared storage for Picasa Web Albums.

At a glance, Google drive resembles Google docs. Once you sign up for Google drive, you will no longer see Google docs since the documents are stored in the drive. This can be confusing for most people who use Google docs to collaborate numerous documents. Even so, storage of Google docs on the drive allows the user to drag folders and files to the drive for easier access.

When it comes to Google drive features, the user interface can do with a few improvements. It should be made to look less like Google Docs to reduce confusion. It is a great idea that Google offers a mini-preview of the documents in Google drive, even though the name display is a bit poor. Even so, it is a worthwhile for anyone in need of extra cloud storage space.

Downloading documents to Google drive

A good feature that comes with Google Drive is the ability it to download a lot of files at a go in a zipped folder. Downloading documents in zipped folders from Google drive is easy:

• Go to the files and folders you want to download.
• Go to more followed by download.

It will take some time for the files to be zipped depending on the size of the folders and files. If you have other things to attend to while the zipped folder is being created, you can click on ‘email when ready’, to have the zipped folder link emailed to you once the process completes. You can later click on the link to be redirected to the zipped folder.