How to Backup Google Drive to an External Hard Drive

Google Drive is one of the most popular cloud storage platforms out there. It makes it quite easy to automatically take backups of your photos, files, and other data.

Even though Google Drive is quite safe and secure, it is not a bad idea to take a backup of Google Drive to an external hard drive. After all, it will add an additional layer of security while making it quite easy to transfer files without needing an active internet connection.

If you also want to backup Google Drive to an external drive, you have stumbled upon the right webpage. Here, I am going to share some of the easiest methods that you can follow to take Google Drive backup to an external hard drive.

So, without any further ado, let’s get started –

How to Backup Google Drive to an External Hard Drive

There are plenty of methods that you can follow to take a backup of your Google Drive. Below, we have mentioned all of those techniques –

1. Using Google Drive Web Application

The very first and the easiest technique to take a backup of Google Drive is by using the web application of Google Drive. The reason this is my favorite technique is that it doesn’t require you to download any application on your computer.

To take a Google Drive backup using this technique, you have to follow these simple steps – 

• Open your web browser.
• Head over to the Settings > Download Settings and set the external hard drive location as your default download location.
• Now, go to the Google Drive webpage and log in using your Gmail credentials.
• Here, select all of the files and right-click to select the Download option. While there is no option to select all the files at once, you can use the keyboard shortcut CTRL + A.
• After that, Google Drive will start zipping the files.

Once the zipping process is done, the download process will be initiated. This is one of the easiest methods to take a backup of your Google Drive to an external hard drive.

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2. Using Google Drive for Desktop App

If you already have the Google Drive for Desktop application installed on your PC, you can follow this method. This method is even much easier than the previous one.

You just need to follow these simple steps –

• Connect your hard drive to your computer.
• Open the Google Drive folder on your PC.
• Select all the files inside the folder.
• Right-click and select the Copy option.
• Open your hard drive, right-click anywhere, and select the Paste option.

That’s it. All of your Google Drive files will start downloading to your external hard drive. Alternatively, you can drag and drop the My Drive to your external hard drive.

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3. Using Google Takeout

Google Takeout is a great feature offered by Google that lets you export your data from various Google products, including Google Drive, Photos, and more, in one go.

You can use this feature to export all your data available on Google Drive to your local computer or external hard drive.

The process to export Google Drive data using Google Takeout is pretty simple. All you have to do is follow these simple steps –

• Go to the Google Takeout Webpage and log in using your Gmail account.
• By default, it will select all of the options. You have to deselect all and select the Drive option only and click on Next Step.

• Next, Choose file type, frequency, and destination. Select the Send download link via email option as the Delivery method, Export once as frequency, and .zip as the file type.

• Click on Create Export.

You will receive an email in your Gmail inbox containing the direct download link of all of your GDrive files.

Open that link, and it will take you to the download page. You have to select the Download your files option to initiate the download process.

Once the download gets completed, you can unzip the files and folders and copy them to the external hard drive. The Google Takeout feature isn’t that popular because it has a few limitations.

For example, this feature doesn’t let you download shared files. If you want to backup shared files data, you have to do that manually.

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Backup Google Drive using Google Vault – Only for Google Workspace users

If you are a Google Workspace user, then you can use Google Vault to take a backup of your Google Drive very easily. Google Vault is a great tool that retains all the user data stored in Gmail, Drive, Groups, and more.

The best thing about Google Vault is that it holds the user data even when the user has permanently deleted files from their Google Workspace account.

So yeah, even if you have deleted some files from your Google Drive, you can recover them using this tool. However, you have to enable it in the retention settings.

To take backup using Google Vault, you have to follow these simple steps – 

• Go to Google Vault webpage and log in using your Google Workspace account.
• Select the Retention option from the left sidebar.
• Next, click on the Drive option to edit the retention policy.
• Check the option “Set a default retention rule for Drive”.
• Next, for the duration setting, select the Indefinitely option and save it.

• Now, head back to the Google Vault homepage and click on the Matter option.
• Select a matter you want to export data from and click on Search
• Now, select Drive as the Service, and tap on the All Data option as Source.
• Once done, click on Export.

Enter a name for the Export. Avoid using special characters as they may prevent you from downloading exports. Now, you can go to the Export tab.

Once the export process is completed, you will be able to see the green checkmark, and the Download button will be visible. Click on the Download button to initiate the download process.

You may like the following Google Drive articles:

• How To Recover Permanently Deleted Photos From Google Drive
• Google Drive vs Koofr – Which is Better?
• How to Automatically Backup Photos to Google Drive
• How to Clear Recent in Google Drive
• Cannot Download File from Version History on Google Drive
• How to Add Google Drive to Finder

Closing Comments

Even though Google Drive is quite secure, taking a local backup can always be a great idea to save yourself from catastrophic situations. Therefore, if you are planning to take a Google Drive backup, the guides mentioned above will surely help you.