Download Google Drive Folders to Your Desktop (Fast & Easy)

Summary: This article provides a comprehensive overview of how to move Google Drive folders to your desktop. It covers the benefits of having direct access to your files from the desktop. Also, it walks around the methods of transferring Google Drive folders on your desktop.

Google Drive is well-known as the absolute cloud storage platform that allows users to sync, backup, and share files on a plethora of devices. It is a widely used platform through which users store files online and make them accessible from anywhere they want. But, sometimes, users prefer having their files stored locally on their desktops for faster access and offline availability.

There are times when users get stuck in situations where they might need to move folders from Google Drive to their desktop or create a backup. Now, let’s take a glimpse at a user query to understand the scenario efficiently.

User Query

Considering the above user query, another user replies that to transfer folders from Google Drive to your computer, you are essentially downloading them and there are two basic methods to do so, they are-

• Access Google Drive via the website.
• Installing the Google Drive application on your desktop.

We’ll talk about the different methods to move folders from Google Drive to your desktop in the upcoming section, but first, let’s take a look at the benefits of moving the files.

Benefits Of Moving Files From Google Drive To Desktop

Moving your files and folders from Google Drive has several benefits, they are-

• Offline Access: One of the primary benefits is the ability to access your files without an internet connection.
• Faster Access: Files can be accessed more quickly when stored locally, you don’t need to download the files every time you need them.
• Simplified File Management: Managing files becomes easier on a local drive.
• Local Backup: Having a local copy of your precious data enhances security. It ensures that you have access to the data even if there is an issue with Google Drive.

Now, let’s dive into the various methods you can use to move folders from Google Drive to a desktop. Follow the step-by-step guidelines to proceed.

Using Google Drive’s Web Interface

Using Google Drive’s Web Interface to download folders manually is the simplest method. Follow the steps to proceed-

• Step 1.) Open a web browser and open Google Drive.
• Step 2.) Go to the Folder you want to transfer and select multiple folders by pressing the Ctrl key.
• Step 3.) Right-click on the selected folders and click on Download.
  Note: Google Drive will compress the files in a zip file.
• Step 4.) Once the download is complete, locate the zip file in the download folder and right-click to extract all.
• Step 5.) Drag and drop the extracted folders to the desired location.

Using Google Drive for Desktop Application

To apply this method, you need to install Google Drive on the desktop. Follow the steps given below to proceed-

• Step 1.) Install Google Drive for the desktop and log in by entering your credentials.
• Step 2.) During the setup process, a prompt will appear asking if you want to sync your Google Drive with your desktop. Click the checkbox and choose the desired folders.
• Step 3.) The selected folders will appear on the Google Drive folder, you can drag and drop the folders to the desired location.
• Step 4.) Any changes made in the files will automatically sync with your Google Drive, ensuring that your local copies will be up to date.

Using Google Takeout to Download Google Drive to Computer

Users can use Google Takeout to move folders from Google Drive to their desktop, follow the steps given below-

• Step 1.) Go to Google Takeout and deselect all the products except Google Drive.
• Step 2.) Choose a file type and size for export and Google Takeout will create a downloadable Archive folder.
• Step 3.) Now, click on “Create Export”. It may take some time depending on the file size.
• Step 4.) Once the export is ready, you will receive an email with the download link.
• Step 5.) Now, Extract the files from the archive folder and move them to a preferred location.

More often than not, users find that their Google data migration gets stuck at 99 using this manual procedure. Thus, in case your Google Takeout is not working, technical professionals suggest it is best to use an automated Google Takeout alternative instead of the manual takeout service.

Time to Wrap Up

The above article gives you a detailed explanation of how to move the Google Drive folder to a desktop. We talked about the various methods to solve the problem and talked about some benefits. Since you get a limited amount of space on Google, we recommend you take regular backups to prevent any loss of data. Users can use our professional Gmail backup software to back up their data as the utility provides advanced features that do the work with 100% accuracy, so you don’t need to worry about time consumption and any data loss.