Google FileStream will give you access to your Team Drives, while Backup and Sync can not.ĭrive files exist off campus (in the cloud) – they could be stored in multiple locations around the world. Potential downside, if you have really huge files it would take a while to open them since it’s got to move the data to your machine for access. It acts just like the F or G drive (or Files1 or Files2 for Macs). Or an executable file like a driver or a batch file can just be run from there. Mounts a drive where you can double-click a file (Photoshop) and have it open in Photoshop.

Files are all in the cloud, nothing stored locally. Useful if you have large local files (again, say large photoshop files) that you need to work on while offline, but also need to be synced either for backup or accessibility or for sharing.ģ – Google FileStream client. Recently Google made this much more flexible, you can choose what folders in the cloud to sync down and also what folders on the computer to sync up. The files are in the cloud AND on the computer.* It’s a sync. – This replaces the “Google Drive client” which is being discontinued in 2018. Non-google files for the most part would need to be manually downloaded to open and edit them, for example a Photoshop file and then re-uploaded.Ģ – Google Backup and Sync client. It’s all in the cloud, nothing stored locally.

Google drive backup and sync computer