Stream file download

Select Allow on the permissions prompt. Mac: El Capitan For High Sierra You will also find the Drive Menu in a different place, depending on what computer you use. On Windows, look for the icon at the bottom right of your screen. On macOS, look at the top right of your screen.

Your computer's Google Drive folder will contain both your personal Google Drive and any Shared Drives you can access.

The only difference between these files and any other file on your computer is that these files are not stored on your computer by default and any changes you make to them will automatically sync with your cloud storage. This version of the Drive desktop application does require an internet connection to display your Drive folders and files.

You can find more information by checking out the official Drive File Stream documentation from Google. Drive File Stream is still considered a Beta application by Google, so features may change quickly and issues may arise. If you ever have an issue logging in or accessing Drive File Stream, your Drive and all of its contents will always be available via a web browser with the use of the internet.

After you download the application and launch it for the first time, you will be presented with a Google login screen. Once successfully logged in File Stream will begin syncing your files. File Stream will show up as an external device in your Finder for Mac users and as the G drive in your file explorer for Windows users.

In order to make it easier to find the app, pin it to your Dock or Taskbar. When the download is complete, double-click the installer the file is called InstallBackupAndSync. Boom, done! The first time you open Google Drive on Mac, you have to go through a few steps to get it set up properly.

After that accessing Google Drive will be effortless. But to get things up and running:. The installer will finish by adding a Google Drive menu bar icon and a Google Drive sidebar icon to the Finder. Google Drive menu bar icon is handy for quick access and configuring Google Drive settings. The menu bar Google Drive icon gives you quick access to the Google Drive folder on your Mac, opens Google Drive in your browser, displays recent documents that you have added or updated, and tells you if the Google Drive sync has completed.

But more importantly, the menu bar icon contains additional Google Drive settings. To set up Google Drive to your liking:. The Google Drive Preferences menu lets you configure your Google Drive settings with a three-tab interface. My Mac tab allows you to decide whether you want to keep the default setting and have all the folders in your Google Drive folder synced automatically to the cloud or designate only specific folders for Google Drive sync.

Google Drive tab manages the connection between your Google Drive folder and the cloud. This is where you go in case of Google Drive not syncing. Settings tab gives you options to have Google Drive automatically launch when you log in to your Mac, show confirmation messages when shared items are removed from Google Drive, and upgrade your storage to another plan.

Now that your Google Drive setup is complete, you have access to this additional storage for you to do as you wish. However, one of the best uses would be to link your Google Drive to multiple devices — for easy access from all of them.