Google Drive is a file storage and synchronization service developed by Google.

Launched on April 24,

2012, Google Drive allows users to store files on their servers, synchronize files across devices, and share
files. In addition to a website, Google Drive offers apps with offline capabilities for Windows and macOS
computers, and Android and iOS smartphones and tablets. Google Drive encompasses Google Docs,
Google Sheets, and Google Slides, which are a part of the Google Docs office suite that permits
collaborative editing of documents, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings, forms, and more. Files
created and edited through the Google Docs suite are saved in Google Drive.

Google Drive offers users 15 gigabytes of free storage through Google One. Google One also offers 100
gigabytes, 200 gigabytes, 2 terabytes, 10 terabytes, 20 terabytes, and 30 terabytes offered through
optional paid plans. Files uploaded can be up to 5 terabytes in size. Users can change privacy settings for
individual files and folders, including enabling sharing with other users or making content public. On the
website, users can search for an image by describing its visuals, and use natural language to find specific
files, such as "find my budget spreadsheet from last December".

The website and Android app offer a Backups section to see what Android devices have data backed up
to the service, and a completely overhauled computer app released in July 2017 allows for backing up
specific folders on the user's computer. A Quick Access feature can intelligently predict the files users
need.

Google Drive is a key component of Google Workspace, Google's monthly subscription offering for
businesses and organizations. As part of select Google Workspace plans, Drive offers unlimited storage,
advanced file audit reporting, enhanced administration controls, and greater collaboration tools for
teams.

Following the launch of the service, Google Drive's privacy policy was heavily criticized by some
members of the media. Google has one set of Terms of Service and Privacy Policy agreements that cover
all of its services, meaning that the language in the agreements grants the company broad rights to
reproduce, use, and create derivative works from content stored on Google Drive. While the policies
also confirm that users retain intellectual property rights, privacy advocates raised concerns that the
licenses grant Google the right to use the information and data to customize the advertising and other
services Google provides. In contrast, other members of the media noted that the agreements were no
worse than those of competing cloud storage services, but that the competition uses "more artful
language" in the agreements, and also stated that Google needs the rights in order to "move files
around on its servers, cache your data, or make image thumbnails".
As of March 2017, Google Drive had 800 million active users, and as of September 2015 it had over one
million organizational paying users. As of May 2017, there were over two trillion files stored on the
service.

Contents

1 Platforms

1.1 Computer apps

1.1.1 Backup and Sync

1.2 Mobile apps

1.3 Website interface

2 Storage

2.1 Individual user account storage

2.2 Chromebook promotions

2.3 Google Workspace storage

2.4 Storage scheme revisions

3 Features

3.1 Sharing

3.2 Third-party apps

3.3 File viewing

3.4 File limits

3.5 Quick Access

3.6 Search

3.7 Backups

3.8 Metadata

3.9 Accessibility to the visually impaired

3.10 Save to Google Drive browser extension

3.11 Mobile apps

3.12 Encryption

4 Professional editions

4.1 Google Drive Enterprise

4.2 Google Drive for Education

4.3 Shared Drives

5 Docs, Forms, Sheets and Slides

5.1 Updates

5.2 Drawings

6 Reception

6.1 Features

6.2 Ownership and licensing

7 Growth

8 Downtime issues

9 Spam issues

10 See also

11 References

12 External links

Platforms

Google Drive

Google Drive logo.svg

Screenshot of Google Drive app for Android.png

Google Drive's Android app

Stable release(s)
Android2.20.061.04 / February 13, 2020; 8 months ago [2]

iOS 4.2019.42202 / October 22, 2019; 11 months ago[3]

Written in Python (back-end), Objective-C (Mac client), wxPython (Windows client)[4]

Operating system Chrome OS, Android, iOS

License Freeware

Website www.google.com/drive/

Google Drive was introduced on April 24, 2012 with apps available for Windows, macOS, and Android, as
well as a website interface.[5] The iOS app was released later in June 2012.[6]

Computer apps

Google Drive is available for PCs running Windows 7 or later, and Macs running OS X Lion or later.[7]
Google indicated in April 2012 that work on Linux software was underway,[8] but there was no news on
this as of November 2013.[9] In April 2012, Google's then-Senior Vice President Sundar Pichai said that
Google Drive would be tightly integrated with Chrome OS version 20.[10] In October 2016, Google
announced that, going forward, it would drop support for versions of the computer software older than
1 year.[11] In June 2017, Google announced that a new app called Backup and Sync would replace the
existing separate Google Drive and Google Photos desktop apps, creating one unified app on desktop
platforms.[12][13] Originally intended for release on June 28, its release was delayed[14] until July 12.
[15][16][17] In September 2017, Google announced that it would discontinue the Google Drive desktop
app in March 2018 and end support in December 2017.[18]

Backup and Sync

In July 2017, Google announced their new downloadable software, Backup and Sync.[19] It was made
mainly to replace the Google Drive desktop app,[20] which was discontinued.[18] Its main function is for
the user to be able to set certain folders to constantly sync onto their Google account's Drive. The
synced folders and files count against the shared quota allocated between Gmail, Google Photos, and
Google Drive.

Mobile apps

Google Drive is available for Android smartphones and tablets running Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean" or later,
[21] and iPhones and iPads running iOS 8 or later.[22]
In August 2016, Google Drive ended support for Android devices running Android 4.0 "Ice Cream
Sandwich" or older versions,[23] citing Google's mobile app update policy, which states: "For Android
devices, we provide updates for the current and 2 previous Android versions." According to the policy,
the app will continue to work for devices running older Android versions, but any app updates are
provided on a best-efforts basis. The policy also states a notice will be given for any planned end of
service.[24]

On May 4, 2020 Google rolled out a new feature update in its Google Drive app version 4.2020.18204 for
iOS and iPadOS, known as Privacy Screen, which requires Face ID or Touch ID authentication whenever
the app is open.[25][26]

Website interface

Google Drive has a website that allows users to see their files from any Internet-connected computer,
without the need to download an app.

The website received a visual overhaul in 2014 that gave it a completely new look and improved
performance. It also simplified some of the most common tasks, such as clicking only once on a file to
see recent activity or share the file, and added drag-and-drop functionality, where users can simply drag
selected files to folders, for improved organization.[27][28]

A new update in August 2016 changed several visual elements of the website; the logo was updated, the
search box design was refreshed, and the primary color was changed from red to blue. It also improved
the functionality to download files locally from the website; users can now compress and download
large Drive items into multiple 2 GB .zip files with an improved naming structure, better Google Forms
handling, and empty folders are now included in the .zip, thereby preserving the user's folder hierarchy.
[29][30]

Storage

Individual user account storage

Main article: Google One

Google gives every user 15 GB (1 GB = 1 billion bytes) of free storage through Google One. Google Docs,
Google Sheets and Google Slides files do not count towards the storage limit.[31] This cloud storage is
also shared with Gmail and Google Photos.[32] An unlimited number of photos at maximum 16
megapixels and videos at maximum 1080p resolutions are stored for free using the "High quality" setting
in Google Photos. Using the "Original quality" setting uses Google Drive quota.[33]

Users can purchase additional space through either a monthly or yearly payment. The option of yearly
payments was introduced in December 2016, and is limited to the 100 GB, 200 GB or 2 TB (1 TB = 1000
billion bytes) storage plans.[31] Furthermore, the yearly payments offer a discount.[34] In May 2018,
Google announced that storage plans (including the free 15 gigabyte plan) would be moved over to
Google One.[35]

As of 2017, these are the storage plans offered by Google:[31]

Storage Price (US$)

15 GB Free

100 GB $1.99/month ($20.99/year)

200 GB $2.99/month ($29.99/year)

2 TB $9.99/month ($99.99/year)

10 TB $99.99/month

20 TB $199.99/month

30 TB $299.99/month

Chromebook promotions

Chromebook users can obtain 100 GB of Google Drive storage free for 2 years as long as the promotion
is activated within 180 days of the Chromebook device's initial purchase.[36] This is available in all
countries where Google Drive is available. Offer can only be redeemed once per device. Used, open-box
and refurbished devices are not eligible for the offer.

Google Workspace storage

Main article: G Suite

Google offers 30 GB of Drive storage for all Google Workspace Starter customers, and unlimited storage
for those using Google Workspace Business or Google Workspace for Education, as long as there are at
least 5 members. Associations with less than 5 members get 1 TB per user.[37]

Storage scheme revisions

Before the introduction of Google Drive, Google Docs initially provided 15 GB of storage free of charge.
[citation needed] On April 24, 2012, Google Drive was introduced with free storage of 5 GB. Storage
plans were revised, with 25 GB costing $2.49/month, 100 GB costing $4.99/month and 1 TB costing
$49.99/month.[5]

Originally, Gmail, Google Docs and Picasa had separate allowances for free storage and a shared
allowance for purchased storage.[38] Between April 2012 and May 2013, Google Drive and Google+
Photos had a shared allowance for both free and purchased storage, whereas Gmail had a separate 10
GB storage limit, which increased to 25 GB on the purchase of any storage plan.[39]

In September 2012, Google announced that a paid plan would now cover total storage, rather than the
paid allocation being added to the free; e.g. a 100 GB plan allowed a total of 100 GB rather than 115 GB
as previously.[40]

In May 2013, Google announced the overall merge of storage across Gmail, Google Drive and Google+
Photos, giving users 15 GB of unified free storage between the services.[41]

In March 2014, the storage plans were revised again and prices were reduced by 80% to $1.99/month
for 100 GB, $9.99/month for 1 TB, and $99.99/month for 10 TB.[42] This was much cheaper than
competitors Dropbox and OneDrive offered at the time.[43]

In 2018, the paid plans were re-branded as "Google One" to emphasize their application beyond Google
Drive, along with the addition of a $2.99/month plan for 200 GB, and increasing the $9.99 plan to 2 TB at
no additional charge.[44]
In most cases during these changes, users could continue with their existing plans as long as they kept
their accounts active and did not make any adjustments to the plan. However, if the account lapsed for
any reason, users had to choose from current plans.

Features

Sharing

Google Drive incorporates a system of file sharing in which the creator of a file or folder is, by default, its
owner. The owner can regulate the public visibility of the file or folder. Ownership is transferable. Files
or folders can be shared privately with particular users having a Google account, using the email address
(usually, but not necessarily,[45] ending in @gmail.com) associated with that account. Sharing files with
users not having a Google account requires making them accessible to "anybody with the link". This
generates a secret URL for the file, which may be shared via email or private messages. Files and folders
can also be made "public on the web", which means that they can be indexed by search engines and
thus can be found and accessed by anyone. The owner may also set an access level for regulating
permissions. The three access levels offered are "can edit", "can comment" and "can view". Users with
editing access can invite others to edit.

Third-party apps

A number of external web applications that work with Google Drive are available from the Chrome Web
Store. To add an app, users are required to sign into the Chrome Web Store, but the apps are
compatible with all supported web browsers. Some of these apps are first-party, such as Google Docs,
Sheets and Slides. Drive apps operate on the online files and can be used to view, edit and create files in
various formats, edit images and videos, fax and sign documents, manage projects, create flowcharts,
etc. Drive apps can also be made the default for handling file formats supported by them. Some of these
apps also work offline on Google Chrome and Chrome OS.[46][47]

All of the third-party apps are free to install. However, some have fees associated with continued usage
or access to additional features. Saving data from a third-party app to Google Drive requires
authorization the first time.[48]

The Google Drive software development kit (SDK) works together with the Google Drive user interface
and the Chrome Web Store to create an ecosystem of apps that can be installed into Google Drive. In
February 2013, the "Create" menu in Google Drive was revamped to include third-party apps, thus
effectively granting them the same status as Google's own apps.[49][50]
In March 2013, Google released an API for Google Drive that enables third-party developers to build
collaborative apps that support real-time editing.[51][52]

File viewing

The Google Drive viewer on the web allows the following file formats to be viewed:[53]

Native formats (Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Drawings)

Image files (.JPEG, .PNG, .GIF, .TIFF, .BMP, .WEBP)

Video files (.WEBM, .MPEG4, .3GPP, .MOV, .AVI, .MPEG, .MPEGPS, .WMV, .FLV, .OGG)

Audio formats (.MP3, .M4A, .WAV, .OGG)

Text files (.TXT)

Markup/Code (.CSS, .HTML, .PHP, .C, .CPP, .H, .HPP, .JS)

Microsoft Word (.DOC and .DOCX)

Microsoft Excel (.XLS and .XLSX)

Microsoft PowerPoint (.PPT and .PPTX)

Adobe Portable Document Format (.PDF)

Apple Pages (.PAGES)

Adobe Illustrator (.AI)

Adobe Photoshop (.PSD)

Autodesk AutoCad (.DXF)

Scalable Vector Graphics (.SVG)

PostScript (.EPS, .PS)

Python (.PY)

Fonts (.TTF)

XML Paper Specification (.XPS)

Archive file types (.ZIP, .RAR, tar, gzip)

.MTS files

Raw Image formats

Files in other formats can also be handled through third-party apps that work with Google Drive,
available from the Chrome Web Store.[46]

File limits

Files that are uploaded, but not converted to Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides formats, may be up to 5 TB
in size. There are also limits, specific to file type, listed below:[53][54]

Documents (Google Docs)

Up to 1.02 million characters, regardless of the number of pages or font size. Document files converted
to .gdoc Docs format cannot be larger than 50 MB (1 MB = 1 million bytes). Images inserted cannot be
larger than 50 MB, and must be in either .jpg, .png, or non-animated .gif formats.

Spreadsheets (Google Sheets)

Up to 2 million cells.

Presentations (Google Slides)

Presentation files converted to .gslides Slides format cannot be larger than 100 MB. Images inserted
cannot be larger than 50 MB, and must be in either .jpg, .png, or non-animated .gif formats.

Quick Access

Introduced in the Android app in September 2016, Quick Access uses machine learning to "intelligently
predict the files you need before you've even typed anything".[55][56] The feature was announced to be
expanded to iOS and the web in March 2017,[57] though the website interface received the feature in
May.[58]

Search

Search results can be narrowed by file type, ownership, visibility, and the open-with app. Users can
search for images by describing or naming what is in them. For example, a search for "mountain" returns
all the photos of mountains, as well as any text documents about mountains.[59] Text in images and
PDFs can be extracted using optical character recognition.[60] In September 2016, Google added
"natural language processing" for searching on the Google Drive website, enabling specific user search
queries like "find my budget spreadsheet from last December".[61] In February 2017, Google integrated
Drive and the Google Search app on Android, letting users search for keywords, switch to an "In Apps"
tab, and see any relevant Drive files.[62][63][64]

Backups

In December 2016, Google updated the Android app and website with a "Backups" section, listing the
Android device and app backups saved to Drive. The section lets users see what backups are stored, the
backups' sizes and details, and delete backups.[65]

In June 2017, Google announced that a new app, "Backup and Sync", would be able to synchronize any
folder on the user's computer to Google.[12][13] The app was released on July 12, 2017.[15][16][17]

Metadata

A Description field is available for both files and folders that users can use to add relevant metadata.
Content within the Description field is also indexed by Google Drive and searchable.[66]

Accessibility to the visually impaired

In June 2014, Google announced a number of updates to Google Drive, which included making the
service more accessible to visually impaired users. This included improved keyboard accessibility,
support for zooming and high contrast mode, and better compatibility with screen readers.[27]

Save to Google Drive browser extension

Google offers an extension for Google Chrome, Save to Google Drive, that allows users to save web
content to Google Drive through a browser action or through the context menu. While documents and
images can be saved directly, webpages can be saved in the form of a screenshot (as an image of the
visible part of the page or the entire page), or as a raw HTML, MHTML, or Google Docs file. Users need
to be signed into Chrome to use the extension.[67]

Mobile apps
The main Google Drive mobile app supported editing of documents and spreadsheets until April 2014,
when the capability was moved to separate, standalone apps for Google Docs, Google Sheets, and
Google Slides.[68][69] The Google Drive app on Android allows users to take a photo of a document,
sign, or other text and use optical character recognition to convert to text that can be edited.[70] In
October 2014, the Android app was updated with a Material Design user interface, improved search, the
ability to add a custom message while sharing a file, and a new PDF viewer.[71][72]

Encryption

Before 2013, Google did not encrypt data stored on its servers. Following information that the United
States' National Security Agency had "direct access" to servers owned by multiple technology
companies, including Google,[73] the company began testing encrypting data in July[74] and enabled
encryption for data in transit between its data centers in November.[75] However, as of 2015, Google
Drive does not provide client-side encryption.[76]

Professional editions

See also: G Suite

Google Drive Enterprise

Google Drive for Work was a business version, as part of Google Workspace (formerly Google Apps for
Work or G Suite), announced at the Google I/O conference on June 25, 2014, and made available
immediately. The service features unlimit