How do I save files to my phone from Google Drive?

The ability to access and save your files from any device from anywhere in the world is one of the prominent features of cloud storage platforms.

Google Drive allows users to access and download files to their smartphones with ease. In this article, we will discuss how you can save files to your phone from Google Drive effortlessly.

We have included the methods for both Android and iOS devices. If you are facing any concerns while downloading files from Google Drive to your smartphone, follow the below steps to make your downloading procedure hassle-free.

How to save files to an Android phone from Google Drive?

Google Drive is the primary cloud storage option for Android OS users around the globe. The tech giant Google owns both the operating system and cloud storage platform; this software collaboration allows syncing between them an effortless affair.

Google Drive application on Android devices allows seamless data transfer between your smartphone and Google Drive account. Without further ado, let’s check how can we effortlessly save files to an Android device from Google Drive. 

  • Open the Google Drive application on your Android Phone and log in to your Google account.
  • Navigate to the file you want to download. Tap on the More (three dots) option.
  • From the dropdown menu, select the Download option. You will receive a notification once the download is completed.
save files to my phone from Google Drive
How do I save files to my phone from Google Drive

The file will be saved to your phone and now you can access it even when you are offline. The device will usually save the file to the Downloads folder in your phone memory. You can use the file explorer to locate and open the downloaded file. 

Read How to recover deleted shared files on Google Drive?

How to save files to an iPhone/iOS device from Google Drive? 

Apple’s cloud storage platform, iCloud is a fantastic product but it offers merely 5GB of free storage to the users. Considering the large file size of the iPhone images, videos, and backups, 5GB is too little space even for an average user. 

On the other hand, Google Drive offers 15GB of free storage space for its users and you can save 3 times more files compared to iCloud. This is one of the biggest weaknesses of the Apple cloud storage system and the number of iPhone users depending on Google Drive for cloud storage is rapidly increasing.

Google Drive is the best alternative cloud storage option available for iPhone users and using Google Drive on iOS devices is an uncomplicated procedure. Let’s check the steps you need to follow to save a file to your iOS device from Google Drive.

  • Open the Google Drive app on your iPhone.
  • Locate the file you want to save to your phone and Tap More (three dots) next to the file name. 
  • Select the Open in option and choose the application you want to open the file in.

iOS gives two options while downloading a file from Google Drive. 

  • Save the file to your phone memory

Choose this option to save the file to your phone memory. After download, you can access the while in offline mode also.

  • Open the file within another application

You can open the file in another application using this option.

Read Google Drive Upload Failure 38

How to save files to my PC from Google Drive?

We have discussed the steps to save files from Google Drive to smartphones, now let’s check how to save files to your PC. The download procedure is the same if you are using the Google Drive application or the Web version of Google Drive. 

  • Open the Google Drive account and select the file you want to download.
  • Right-click on the file and select the Download option.
  • Choose the download location and click on Save.

Read How To See Folder Size In Google Drive?

How to download all files in Google Drive to my phone or PC?

What if you want to download all files in your Google Drive to a phone or PC? You can select all files and click on download but it will be complicated if you have a large number of files in the drive. The easiest method is to download all the Drive files as a zip file to your computer or phone.

Google Takeout is a tool you can use to download your entire Google content to any device you choose. The Google takeout tool will allow you to download a wide range of content and files from your Google account but we are focusing only on Google Drive files here. Here are the steps you need to follow. 

  • Open the Google Takeout using the same Google account of your Drive.
  • By default, all the Google services content will be selected for download. Deselect all products.
how to save on google drive from phone
  • Select the Google Drive option only.
Select the Google Drive option only
  • Scroll down and click on the Next step option.
  • In the next window, choose the delivery method. The best option will be the Send download link via email.
Send download link via email
  • Set the download frequency as Export once
  • Select the file type you want .zip or .tgz and the file size: You have options from 1 GB to 50 GB.
Select the file type
  • Click on the Create export option.

When your files are ready, you’ll get an email with a download link. You’ll have one week to download your files.

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We believe the above methods will help you to save files to your phone or PC from Google Drive without any complications. If you are stuck somewhere while downloading the files from Google Drive, let us know in the comments and we will be happy to assist you.