Score:14

Can Google Drive desktop be used on Ubuntu?

ca flag

I'm thinking of switching my operating system from Windows and I use Google Drive desktop with all of my video work.

ChanganAuto avatar
us flag
Exactly as answered but you should know that isn't needed as the Google Drive functionality can be integrated in the native Files (explorer) app.
N0rbert avatar
zw flag
There is [a hack](https://askubuntu.com/a/1198171/66509) with running it using Wine. But it works bad. So you have to use Dropbox or Yandex.Drive ([with GUI](https://askubuntu.com/a/1268480/66509)) as alternatives.
Jacob Vlijm avatar
by flag
related + alternative https://askubuntu.com/questions/1115520/how-do-i-create-a-key-binding-that-allows-me-to-mount-my-google-drive/1115064#1115064 (see further below in this answer: https://askubuntu.com/a/1115064/72216 in short: you can use it like on windows, but not just like that.
wha7ever avatar
id flag
"I'm thinking of switching my operating system from Windows" Congratulations! Great choice. Especially with nonsense that windows 11 is.
karel avatar
sa flag
Does this answer your question? [Is there a Google Drive client available?](https://askubuntu.com/questions/161273/is-there-a-google-drive-client-available)
Score:22
cn flag

You do not need to install software for that; instead, you only need to connect your account using GNOME Online Accounts. It's a sign-on framework for GNOME. It supports popular online services like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Nextcloud, etc; The tool comes pre-installed with Ubuntu, so you don’t have to worry about manual installation. However, if, for some reason, the app isn’t installed, then run the following command to install it quickly.

$ sudo apt update && sudo apt install gnome-online-accounts

To add your Google Drive account, search for “Settings” in the GNOME menu; then:

Settings -> Online Accounts -> Add your google account.

In your file manager, you get your google drive mounted so you can store and retrieve data there.

As commented: this does not sync your file. You alter the contents on google drive itself so needs to be online.

If you want offline access you can add a tool like Insync (payware; multiple account support, desktop notification, symlink support), or Rclone (setup instructions; freeware; command-line to sync to Google Drive, but also Dropbox, Amazon S3, and OneDrive).

uz flag
Jos
This is the correct answer. However, it should be added that this method works differently from Windows, where Google Drive synchronizes part of your local drive with the cloud. The Windows way allows you to access the files even without an Internet connection. The described method only lets you *access* your Drive from your system, not synchronize it. You need to be connected to the internet for it to work. And yes, it shows a network connection in the Files manager that you can use like any other location.
cn flag
@Jos is this better?
uz flag
Jos
Yes, and thanks. As it stands this is an answer to the question. However, the OP mentions video work. On Windows, you can write a large video file to disk and have it synchronized to Google Drive in the background. On Ubuntu you can't and shouldn't write to the Drive directly. So this may conceivably be a limitation to OP.
de flag
Is the Online Accounts safe? Any ways to check the safety measures of this tool?
CPBL avatar
in flag
@Rinzwind, could you add: Once mounted, where are the files if browsing from the command line?
cn flag
@CPBL on your google drive ;-) It is not available from command line as this is a direct link to google drive. The "google drive mounted" is technically speaking "google drive connected" and not a mount when we mean a directory on disk
Score:11
cn flag

No: https://support.google.com/drive/answer/7329379#zippy=%2Csystem-requirements shows that Google product is currently (Oct 2021) available for Windows and OSX only.

There are several other methods for accessing Google Drive, like Nautilus integration, and many of those work very well (I use one). Those are not Google products, but are independent projects that use Google's API for access. None offers the full range of features (like sync) that the Google product has, because some of those features are simply not available using the API

Score:4
kr flag

For Google Drive, this is a good client: https://github.com/odeke-em/drive as well as https://github.com/prasmussen/gdrive

These clients sync your Google Drive data to your local system

Score:1
in flag

I use googledrive-ocamlfuse. It is tricky to setup, but works like the Windows version. That is, is doesn't sync, but streams.

It also supports shared drives.

mangohost

Post an answer

Most people don’t grasp that asking a lot of questions unlocks learning and improves interpersonal bonding. In Alison’s studies, for example, though people could accurately recall how many questions had been asked in their conversations, they didn’t intuit the link between questions and liking. Across four studies, in which participants were engaged in conversations themselves or read transcripts of others’ conversations, people tended not to realize that question asking would influence—or had influenced—the level of amity between the conversationalists.