How to Stop Files Uploading From Google Drive

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How to Stop Files Uploading From Google Drive

Google Drive is one of the most accessible and user-friendly cloud services available; it offers 15 GB of upfront storage data without any hidden costs. However, there may be times when you’re uploading a file and want to stop or pause it.

You might have experienced an error on Google Drive when your upload is stuck or your internet connection isn’t currently working. Hence, in such conditions, the best way to go is to stop the download or pause it and then restart it again. But when you have a lot of files being uploaded on Google Drive, it gets difficult to stop the upload.

This article will show you various ways you can stop files uploading from Google Drive.

How to Stop Files Uploading From Google Drive?

The first method is the simplest one; you need to press the cancel button above the uploading file.

First of all, when you upload a file that you didn’t want to or if the time, it will take us longer than you’d like. You can click the cancel button right above the upload completion window at the bottom right of the screen.

Follow the steps mentioned below for a detailed explanation. 

  • Open your PC or laptop and load your preferred browser. 
  • Head over to the Google Drive website at drive.google.com. 
  • Enter your credentials to access the Drive. 
  • Once you’re logged in, select a file you want to upload by clicking on the New button and selecting File upload. 
  • Once the process has started, click the Cancel button above the progress window, and a message reading “Upload canceled” should be displayed. 
How to Stop Files Uploading From Google Drive
How to Stop Files Uploading From Google Drive

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Disconnecting Your Network

One other rudimentary but very effective method you can apply is disconnecting your WiFi or ethernet connection, so the download is paused forcefully. Refer to the steps mentioned below to see how to do that. 

  • Once the file has begun uploading on Google Drive, click on the WiFi icon on the taskbar. 
  • Click on the WiFi tile and toggle it off. Subsequently, you can also click on the Start button and select the settings icon. Head over to Network settings and toggle the WiFi off from there.

This will eventually stop files from uploading to Google Drive.

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How to Stop Syncing Files On Google Drive?

You can save a lot of space on your Drive if you stop the backup and sync option, which downloads everything you upload to your Google Drive onto your laptop. Refer to the steps provided below to see how you can stop it. 

  • Open your laptop or PC and load your preferred browser. 
  • Head over to the Google Drive website at drive.google.com. 
  • Enter your details to access the Drive when prompted. 
  • Once you’re logged in, click on the settings icon, which should be to the right of the main search bar at the top. 
  • Click on Settings from the menu. 
  • Select the General section from the side menu and uncheck the tick box next to the Offline option. 
  • Drive will now begin deleting all the data from your laptop, and this can take a little bit of time, depending on how many files are there. You should wait till you see the “Offline is disabled” prompt appear at the bottom left corner of the page. 

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Disabling Backup and Sync From The Desktop App For Google Drive

You can also disable the back and sync option from the desktop app for Google Drive. Make sure you are logged in to your account and then try the process. Refer to the steps given below to see how to do that. 

  • Open up your laptop or PC. 
  • Look for the Drive icon on the taskbar and open it. 
  • Press the three buttons on the top of the right of the pop-up box and select Preferences.
  • Choose the Google Drive section from the side menu and uncheck the sync my drive to this computer option. 
  • A warning message will pop up asking if you really want to disable backup and sync and select Continue.

This will allow you to stop the backup process on your desktop which is equivalent to stop files uploading to Google Drive.

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How to Sync Specific Files or Folders From Google Drive to Your PC?

If you do not want to back up the entire Drive onto your laptop’s hard disk, then there’s an option to selectively choose which folders you want to sync to your laptop. Refer to the steps mentioned below to learn how to do that. 

  • Open your laptop or PC and click on the Google Drive cloud icon on the taskbar. 
  • Select the three buttons on the top of the pop-up window and choose Preferences from the ðmenu. 
  • Click on the Google Drive section from the side menu. 
  • Select the Sync only these folders option.
  • Choose all the folders you want to sync and uncheck the ones you want to omit. 
  • Hit OK when you’re done, and click on Continue when you see a warning box saying that some files might be deleted from your computer.

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Conclusion

As you saw, there are several ways to stop a file from being uploaded to Google Drive. We recommend you use the cancel button already found on Google Drive and use the other methods if that one fails to work for you.

If at all you are facing issues where you cannot stop the uploading method, you can force quit the app and that might help a bit in restarting the process we have mentioned. Similarly, to stop the process, you might have to restart the internet connection or even restart your system for that matter.

Most smartphone users have experienced such issues due to uploading a large number of files at once. You can choose to avoid it by uploading files in batches and not all at once. Furthermore, the last resort here is to try contacting the customer support team of Google and leaving your feedback for the same that might bring you some possible solutions for the same.

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