Formed in 2009, the Archive Team (not to be confused with the archive.org Archive-It Team) is a rogue archivist collective dedicated to saving copies of rapidly dying or deleted websites for the sake of history and digital heritage. The group is 100% composed of volunteers and interested parties, and has expanded into a large amount of related projects for saving online and digital history.
Drive File Stream will now be called Google Drive for desktop. Later this year, we will unify our sync clients and bring features from Backup and Sync to Google Drive for desktop to create a better user experience.
How this affects your data and the features you use
As part of this new unified sync client, we’re working to bring customers the best and most used features from both Backup and Sync and Drive File Stream. See below for more details:
See the full list of features
| Backup and Sync | Drive File Stream | Drive for desktop | |
| Use files in My Drive | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Use files in shared drives | No | Yes, if your plan includes shared drives or you’re invited to a shared drive | Yes, if your plan includes shared drives or you’re invited to a shared drive |
| Sync only selected folders in My Drive to your computer | Yes | No, but you can stream files instead to save disk space | No, but you can stream files instead to save disk space |
| Sync only individual files in My Drive for offline use | No | Yes | Yes |
| Open and store non-Google files like Microsoft Office & Photoshop | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| See who's editing with real-time presence in Microsoft Office | No | Yes | Yes |
| Integrates with Microsoft Outlook, Meet scheduling | No | Yes | Yes |
| Sync local folders, like Documents or Desktop, to Google Drive | Yes | No | Yes |
| Back up photos and videos to Google Photos | Yes | No | Yes |
| Back up photos and videos directly to Google Photos instead of Google Drive | No | No | Yes |
| Access multiple accounts at the same time | Yes | No | Yes |
| Upload Apple Photos library | Yes | No | Yes |
| Upload from USB | Yes | No | Yes |
| Dark mode | No | Yes | Yes |
| File extensions you can ignore | Yes | No | No |
How Backup and Sync users can start using Drive for desktop
We’ll announce when Drive for desktop is ready for Backup and Sync users. We will share more details later this year on how Backup and Sync users can get started with Drive for desktop. We will provide 3 months’ notice for Google Workspace admins and end users before the deadline to transition to Drive for desktop.
Frequently asked questions
Why are you making this change?Google Drive for desktop will bring together the best and most used features from Drive File Stream and Backup and Sync. This creates a powerful and unified sync client for everyone who uses Drive, whether for business or personal purposes.
Will anything happen to my files when Drive for desktop releases?
No, your files are not affected. This is just an update to the Backup and Sync and Drive File Stream tools, not your stored files.
I use Drive File Stream. How will this affect me?
There’s no significant impact to Drive File Stream users like you. In the latest release, you will just see the tool renamed to “Drive for desktop”. You’ll also get new features from Backup and Sync as part of a release later this year.
I am a Workspace Admin and my organization uses Drive File Stream. I’m concerned about these new features. What can I do?
We will allow admins control over these new features via registry key. You will be able to see when the new features are available through release notes. For more info about how to control these features, learn how to configure Drive File Stream.