Google Drive Johnny English Strikes Again

Our Verdict

Easy to use and with plenty of storage available, Google Drive is a very solid deject storage provider, and a particularly good option for users of Google'south integrated office apps.

For

  • Very like shooting fish in a barrel to work with
  • Great office apps integrated

Against

  • No stop-to-end encryption
  • Security could be tighter

Tom'due south Guide Verdict

Like shooting fish in a barrel to use and with enough of storage available, Google Drive is a very solid cloud storage provider, and a particularly proficient choice for users of Google'southward integrated office apps.

Pros

  • +

    Very easy to work with

  • +

    Smashing office apps integrated

Cons

  • -

    No end-to-stop encryption

  • -

    Security could exist tighter

Likewise as being a search engine and email provider, Google offers ane of the best cloud storage solutions available. Google Drive is a comprehensive service that allows yous to store your files online and access them across your devices.

But how does it stack upwards against its competitors? In this Google Bulldoze review, we assess its pricing, features, interface, security, and support to help you lot make up one's mind whether information technology'southward the cloud storage provider for you.

Google Drive: Plans and pricing

Google Drive's pricing plans

Google Bulldoze offers various plans and pricing options (Paradigm credit: Google)

With a gratis Google account, y'all get 15GB of cloud storage. This is spread across all the Google apps—non just Google Drive, but Gmail and Google Photos, too.

If you lot need extra space, you can sign upwards for a Google One personal plan. At that place are a few unlike options: yous tin access 100GB of storage for $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year, 200GB for $2.99 a month or $29.99 a year, or 2TB for $nine.99 a month or $99.99 a year.

For businesses, Google Workspace plans give you all Google apps plus features tailored to business organization users, such equally custom concern email addresses and back-end infrastructure for team management. These toll $6 per user a month for 30GB of storage each, $12 per user a month for 2TB each, or $eighteen per user a month for 5TB each.

Google Drive: Features

A new Google Docs document opened

Google Docs is well integrated into Drive (Image credit: Google)

Google Drive has a number of file-sharing options, all of which are very simple to use. Y'all can share files with other users or groups, or y'all can go shareable links. You can also decide whether users can edit a file or just view it. Each file's info tab has a useful summary of users who currently have admission to it, and you can run into who last edited it.

Google'due south word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation apps—Docs, Sheets, and Slides—are well integrated into Google Drive. You can easily create and open up files from the Drive interface. They're all slick, polished apps, able to compete with Microsoft's industry-leading equivalents.

Alternatively, you can upload files created in Microsoft software, and either convert them hands into Google documents, or edit them using Google's apps while retaining the file type.

Google Bulldoze keeps track of each version of the files you upload, including PDFs and images. It's easy to admission the version history from within the Bulldoze interface, and to download or restore whatever previous iterations of files.

A search bar at the top of the Drive interface allows you to instantly pinpoint the particular file yous're looking for. Y'all tin can search by file name, file blazon, keywords, and words independent inside a file. This even includes text within PDFs and images, using Optical Character Recognition (OCR).

Google Drive: Interface and in employ

A screenshot of Google Drive's folder structure in a web browser

Information technology's like shooting fish in a barrel to navigate Google Drive'southward folder structure (Image credit: Google)

There are 3 means to access your Google Drive files—through a web browser, a mobile app, or a desktop tool chosen Fill-in and Sync, which allows you lot to integrate your Drive folder structure into Windows File Explorer or Finder on a Mac.

The spider web browser interface is very well designed, with a clear and hands navigable folder structure and distinctive icons that enable you lot to find the tools y'all need without much trouble. You lot tin can add files by dragging and dropping, or by going through the simple card options. It's easy to organize, re-create, and create favorite files, and to access tools such as sharing controls.

The mobile app has a like but scaled-down design, which makes it easy to switch betwixt devices and not lose runway of your documents.

After a brief setup procedure, the synchronization between devices is automatic and quick. It means you can save a file straight into a Google Drive binder on your desktop, and access it almost immediately on your mobile device.

Google Drive: Back up

Google Drive's help center online

Google has a comprehensive Assist Centre (Image credit: Google)

There'south a comprehensive Help Center bachelor on Google's website, which offers answers to nigh of the technical problems y'all could run across with Google Bulldoze. In that location's as well an active and helpful community forum.

Getting in bear upon with tech support isn't an option if y'all're on the costless program, only for paying subscribers, Google's experts are available 24/vii via live chat, email, or phone. The service is more often than not efficient, taking effectually ten minutes to be linked with an agent.

Google Drive: Security

Google Drive's webpage discussing its security features

Google claims to have industry-leading security (Image credit: Google)

Google offers multiple options for keeping your documents secure, including various levels of two-factor authentication. For business concern users, admins have a comprehensive set of tools for monitoring who has access to what files and setting alerts for attempts at unauthorized admission.

Your files and folders are stored and transferred in an encrypted format, simply the catch is that it'southward not stop-to-end encryption. This means that Google technicians tin decrypt files if compelled to do so by constabulary enforcement, and that leaves the arrangement potentially vulnerable to hackers.

Alternatives to Google Drive

The almost popular competitor is Dropbox. Similar Google Drive, this is a very slick service, with useful browser and mobile interfaces and desktop integration. However, Dropbox only offers users 2GB of storage on the complimentary plan, a steep drop from Google Drive's 15GB. Its paid plans are also pricier, starting at $11.99 a month for 2TB. Read our Dropbox review to learn more about what we made of information technology.

Some other competitor is iCloud. This offers 5GB on its free program, and the paid plans beginning at a very low $0.99 for 50GB, going up to $9.99 a month for 2TB. Its features aren't as in-depth, but its seamless integration with Apple devices brand information technology a good choice for Mac and iPhone users. You lot can find out more than in our Apple iCloud review.

Google Bulldoze: Final verdict

Google Drive'southward shine, efficient interfaces make it easy to upload and edit files, and to keep your files synchronized beyond your devices. It also has a wealth of useful features, such as file sharing, versioning, and advanced search.

Nosotros would like to meet Google tighten its security and add total terminate-to-end encryption. Nevertheless, this shouldn't be a major problem for nearly users. With diverse plans available at affordable prices, Google Drive is one of the all-time cloud storage solutions on the market.

Further reading on cloud storage

Learn more nigh Google Drive in comparing to other cloud storage providers in our comparison features pitting Google Drive vs Dropbox and Google Drive vs OneDrive.

Kieron Moore is a freelance writer based in Manchester, England. He contributes to Time to come sites including TechRadar and Creative Bloq, focusing on subjects including artistic software, video editing, and streaming services. This work draws on his experience as an independent filmmaker and an independent Goggle box watcher. He can be plant on Twitter at @KieronMoore, ordinarily when he'south meant to exist writing.

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Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/google-drive-review

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