How to Turn Off Google Drive Sync on all platforms

Google Drive is one of the most popular cloud storage services among all the options available on the web. There is no doubt that it is highly secure and lets you safely store all your files and folders on cloud storage. Well, you might be here looking for some solution on how to turn off google drive sync that works automatically once enabled, you can follow the guide from hereon.

If you are on your laptops or desktop, either be it Mac or Windows, you might be using Google Backup and Sync where all your files are auto backed up as soon as the system boots up.

However, you can choose to simply stop this function with certain methods and enable manual sync. Similarly, you can do this with your smartphones too.

Let us now look at the methods on how to turn off google drive sync.

How to Turn Off Google Drive sync on Windows 10 and Mac

The first and foremost aspect we can cover here is by starting to run off the backup and syn on your Windows 10 and Mac laptops. There are no difficult steps involved.

Rather you can choose to either turn off the sync or remove the entire application from the system. Here are the steps you can follow.

Read How to Add Music to Google Drive

Method 1: Turn off Google Drive Backup and Sync

As we said, we will try out the first method where you can simply turn off the service and manually look for adding data from your PC to the drive.

  • Right-click on your Backup and Sync icon on the bottom-right corner on Windows 10 and Top-right corner on Mac.
  • Choose Preferences.
how to turn off google drive sync
turn off google drive sync
  • Tap on Settings.
  • Now, choose to click on Disconnect Account.
how do i turn off sync on google drive
Turn off Google Drive Backup and Sync
  • On the pop-up window, click on Disconnect Account for confirmation.
turn off google drive sync android

It will help you to get rid of your Google Account which will stop the process of auto-sync and backup. You can always choose to reconnect your account and enable the process when needed.

Read: How to change Google Drive language

Method 2: Uninstall Backup and Sync

Next up, you can take the extreme step of completely getting rid of the app and all its data from the system. Here are the steps you can follow to uninstall Backup and Sync from your system.

For Windows 10

  • Click on the Start Menu on the desktop.
  • Tap on the Control Panel and choose Programs.
  • Head over to Programs and Features.
  • Look for Backup and Sync from Google and make a right-click.
  • Select Uninstall and click Yes.

For Mac

  • Tap on Finder and click on Applications.
how do i turn off sync on google drive
  • Look for Backup and Sync.
how do i stop google drive syncing
  • Now, drag the app to the Trash.
  • If the message pops up that the “Application is still running”, close the app from the Activity Monitor and then try step 3.
  • Once the app is added to the trash, empty.

Read How to Send large files via Google Drive

Method 3: Temporary solution (Pause and Stop Sync)

Here are two methods that you can try out for a temporary solution to your problem. As soon as your system boots up, tap on the icon and choose to Pause the backup.

Another one you can try to uncheck all the folders that are being synced to simply your drive and vice versa.

Pause the Application (Mac and Windows 10)

  • Click on Backup and sync.
  • Tap on three dots.
  • Choose Pause and click on it to pause the backup and sync.
pause google drive syncing

Uncheck the boxes to stop Syncing data

  • Tap on the Backup and Sync icon.
  • Choose Preferences.
  • Select the three menu options one by one and uncheck all the options.
pause google drive syncing on mac
  • Click on OK to confirm.

Method 4: Quit Backup and Sync

Above all, you can simply choose to quit the application before it can start backing up the data. For this, tap on the icon on your desktop, and click on Quit Backup and Sync.

It will immediately shut off your Google Backup and Sync process temporarily and then you can make the necessary changes if any.

Read: How to backup Quickbooks to Google Drive

How to Turn Off Google Drive sync on Android

Since you will not find the Backup and Sync app for your smartphones, you need to directly turn off Google Drive Sync through the steps mentioned here.

  • Tap on Settings on your Android Smartphone.
  • Click on Accounts.
how to turn off google drive sync on android
turn off google drive sync on android
  • Select the account you wish to disconnect or stop the sync for.
how to turn off google drive sync on android
  • Click on Account Sync to check all the services are being synced to the drive.
turn off google drive sync on android
  • Now, individually toggle the button and stop the sync.
turn off google drive sync on android phone

You can also choose to remove the account from the above process if you wish to permanently get rid of the Google Drive Account Sync. It is much easier and also useful in the long run.

Read: How to Scan Using Google Drive

How to Turn Off Google Drive sync on iOS

Next up if you are an iOS user, you can follow the steps that are slightly different from android devices. Let us look at it.

  • Open Google Drive on your devices.
  • Click on your image
  • Select Manage your Google Account.
  • You can now choose to remove the Google Account that you want to get rid of for Sync.

Other than this, you can always choose to simply sign out of the app which is much easier and less time taking. The process is very similar and with the process above, you can do it all in one. From iOS to Android you can use the same process for better results.

You may like:

Final Verdict

Here is everything you need to know about how to turn off Google Drive Sync. There are several ways as we have seen for a Windows laptop. You can try uninstalling, pause, and stop the sync, quit the app, and much more that is beneficial in the long run. The same goes for both Windows and Apple users.

Similarly, if you are a smartphone user, the process is much simpler. You can simply follow the instructions and will be able to get rid of the app. For Android users, it is a direct approach where directly interacting with the settings might have stopped responding. Furthermore, if you are looking for any help, do let us know in the comment section below.