Google shares transition plans for new desktop file syncing Drive app

Google introduced its plans to transition customers of its consumer file syncing desktop service, Backup and Sync, onto a brand new unified app that both consumers and enterprise customers can use referred to as Drive for desktop. Google plans to begin onboarding customers next week on July 19th, 2021, and encourages folks who used Backup and Sync to make the transfer by the end of September, before getting locked out on October 1st.

Backup and Sync customers will have to transition to the brand new app (a renamed model of Google’s enterprise file syncing software), however enterprise customers who’re already using Drive File Stream (aka Drive for desktop) should be good to go, Google says. The intention with consolidating the apps, Google says, is to create “a effective and unified sync client” with the high-quality functions from both consumer and enterprise offerings that must be extra straightforward to use and less complicated for IT teams to manage. Notably, it’s additionally a reversal of Google’s puzzling selection to split up Google Drive on desktop into apps in 2017.

According to Google’s blog put up explaining the desktop Drive client, the app must be quite familiar to everyone who used Google’s previous offerings. Drive will provide clean access to documents and images saved in the cloud, and sync whatever documents you pick in the background so they’re constantly up to date. Google says the app can sync external storage devices like flash drives to Drive, replicate documents between Drive and local documents on your desktop computer, and can help you pick whether or not you store individual images and motion pictures in Drive or Google Photos.

Google’s Transition Dates

Google will begin transitioning users of Backup and Sync next Monday, July 19th. Here’s the following transition timeline for users, from Google:

July 19th, 2021: Backup and Sync will support a guided flow to help users transition on to Drive for desktop

August 18th, 2021: Any users still on Backup and Sync will start to receive in-product notifications prompting them to transition to Drive for desktop.

October 1st, 2021: Any users still on Backup and Sync after that point will no longer be able to sign in to Backup and Sync. To continue syncing with Drive and/or Google Photos, users will need to transition to Drive for desktop.

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Youssef Afia
Youssef Afia
Articles: 54
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