How to change the Google Drive folder location

Without any doubt, Google Drive is one of the most popular and widely used cloud storage services available out there. The free version offers us 15GB of free space, and you can always increase the limit with paid plans. Also, it offers us the feature to backup and sync files from our computer and if you are actively using this feature. Then you might want to change the Google drive folder location. So the question is, how to change the Google drive folder location?

Whenever you install Google Drive to your computer, a default folder gets created in the C:\ drive. And you may want to move the location to some other drivers, and in this article, I will be sharing a step-by-step guide on how to change the Google Drive folder location.

So here we go

How to change the Google drive folder location?

There are three different ways to change the default Google Drive folder location in Windows 10. For instance, you can change the drive folder location during the setup only, or you can relocate the Google Drive folder location or start from scratch.

And below, I have explained all of these three methods:

1. Change Google Drive Folder Location During The Setup

If you haven’t yet used Google Drive’s backup and sync feature yet. Then you can always uninstall the existing installation and reinstall backup and sync and change the Google Drive folder location.

However, if you have already used the backup and sync and synced your files, then I would not recommend you to install the backup and sync client from your desktop.

But if you wish to uninstall it and reconfigure the Backup and Sync client, then follow these below steps:

• At first, download the Backup and Sync client from https://www.google.com/drive/download/.
• Then double click on the setup file and let it get installed on your computer.
• Once installed, launch Backup and Sync from the system tray menu.
• Then click on the GET STARTED button to start configuring the client.
• Next, click on Sign in with your browser and sign in using your Google account.
• After that, select the folders that you wish to backup and click on the Next button.
• On the next screen, click on the change option and select a folder.
• Finally, click on the start button to start syncing or backup files.

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2. Relocate Google Drive Folder

One of the drawbacks of the backup and sync client is that it doesn’t let you change the default location once you start syncing Google Drive folders locally.

As a result, you will need to quit backup and sync client and then change the Google Drive folder location and then again sync your files.

And for this, you will need to follow the below steps:

• Click on backup and sync the client from the system tray.
• Then click on the three dots icon and select Preferences.

• Now, tap on Google Drive and uncheck the box beside Sync My Drive to this computer.
• In the new dialogue box, click on Continue.
• Yet again now, head back and check the Sync My Drive to this computer.
• Tap on Change to change the Google Drive Folder location.

• After that, launch the Backup and Sync client, and it will return with the “A synced folder is missing” message. From here, click on the Locate button and choose the new folder that you have created and confirm your action.

• Then back up and sync client asks you to “Merge with Existing Folder?” click on the continue button.
• That’s it. Now the backup and sync client will sync the files which are not synced yet.

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3. Disconnect And Reconfigure Backup and Sync

In case if you have already synced all your Google Drive files and yet wish to resync files to a new location. Then you have to start from scratch by disconnecting the Google account and reconfigure the Backup and sync client. 

Also, the best part of this option is that it gives you the option to move your locally synced Google Drive contents to a new location and merge the files if required. 

• Click on the Backup and Sync client icon from the system tray. 
• Then click on the three dots icon and select Preferences.
• Next, go to settings and click on Disconnect account and confirm your action.

• Then move your synced files to a new location and delete the existing folder. However, you can choose to skip this step if you want to sync all your files from scratch.
• Next, click on the backup and sync client again, and click on the sign-in button.
• Then follow all the onscreen instructions and complete the signing procedure.
• Once signed in, launch backup and sync client and click on Get started button.
• Then click on sign in with your browser and complete the login procedure.
• Then you will need to select the folders that you want to back up to Google Drive and click on Next.
• Lastly, click on the change button and choose a new location. You can also choose the location where you have copied your existing synced files and merge them.
• Finally, click on the start button and let the backup and sync client start backing up and syncing your files between your computer and Google Drive.

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• How do I make Google Drive downloadable?
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• How do I open a word document directly in Google Drive?
• Upload a Folder to Google Drive on Android
• Copy a Folder in Google Drive
• How to Find Movies on Google Drive

Final Words

So that was all for your question that says, how to change Google Drive folder location. I would really recommend you to try out the third method if you have already synced your files. So go ahead and try it out and see if it is working for you. Also, if there is anything else you would want to ask, then do comment below.

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