


October 1st, 2021: Any users still on Backup and Sync after that point will no longer be able to sign in to Backup and Sync. July 19th, 2021: Backup and Sync will support a guided flow to help users transition on to Drive for desktopĪugust 18th, 2021: Any users still on Backup and Sync will start to receive in-product notifications prompting them to transition to Drive for desktop. Here’s the following transition timeline for users, from Google: Step 1: Install Backup and Sync and set up your account. You do not have to worry about when you need to back up next. Google will begin transitioning users of Backup and Sync next Monday, July 19th. By plugging in your USB drive, the backup will be automatic. Google says the app can sync external storage devices like flash drives to Drive, mirror files between Drive and local files on your desktop computer, and let you choose whether you store individual photos and videos in Drive or Google Photos. Drive will offer easy access to files and photos stored in the cloud, and sync whatever files you choose in the background so they’re always up to date. Alternatively, you can choose to backup your whole computer. Google’s new Drive for desktop client Image: GoogleĪccording to Google’s blog post explaining the desktop Drive client, the app should be pretty familiar to anyone who used Google’s previous services. Using the desktop app you can choose to back up selected files from your PC.

Notably, it’s also a reversal of Google’s confusing decision to split up Google Drive on desktop into two apps in 2017. The goal with consolidating the apps, Google says, is to create “a powerful and unified sync client” with the best features from both consumer and enterprise services that should be more straightforward to use and easier for IT teams to manage. Google plans to start onboarding users next week on July 19th, 2021, and encourages people who used Backup and Sync to make the switch by the end of September, before getting locked out on October 1st.īackup and Sync users will have to transition to the new app ( a renamed version of Google’s enterprise file syncing software), but business clients who are already using Drive File Stream (aka Drive for desktop) should be good to go, Google says. Google announced its plans to transition users of its consumer file syncing desktop service, Backup and Sync, onto a new unified app that both consumers and business clients can use called Drive for desktop.
