Google drive android folders

How To Use Google Drive On Android

Last Updated: May 23, 2015

Android tablets and phones come with limited storage space when compared to PCs, and so using some form of external storage is essential.

Some tablets have a micro SD card slot which allows you to add physical external storage.

However all tablets and phones can be configured to use cloud storage like Google Drive.

There are many cloud storage providers, and most provide a free limited storage allowance which can easily be expanded as required.

All Google accounts come with a free 15GB storage allowance on Google drive.

Because you really need a Google account to access the Google Play store, then using Google drive cloud storage is the most obvious and easiest choice.

To access Google drive on Android you can use a web browser e.g. Google chrome, but the easiest way is to use the free Google drive App.

If it it is not already installed on your device you can download it from the Google Play store.

Using Google Drive on Android

If you click on the Google drive App to open it it will show you a list of folders and files that are currently on your drive.

What is important to remember is that these files aren’t stored on your device, but on the Internet i.e. in the cloud.

Therefore if you want to access these files you will need an Internet connection.

If you try to access (open) a file when you don’t have an internet connection then you will see something like:

Google Drive Folder on Android

If you have been using Google drive with a PC then the Google drive App creates a Google drive folder on your PC that syncs with your Google drive cloud storage.

To copy files to your Google drive cloud storage you move them to the Google drive folder and they will automatically be synced to the online storage.

The Google Drive App on Android doesn’t work the same way and you don’t have a Google drive folder on Android.

Downloading Files to Android and Working Offline

If you want to access files stored on your Google Drive when you are offline then you will need to create a local copy.

Google drive lets you download files to your Android downloads folder, or to cache the file by enabling available offline.

Click on the icon to the right of the files to show the file details

You should see a screen like the one below:

• Download the file to your downloads folder/directory on Android.
• Cache the file locally.

If you download the file then you will have to go to the downloads folder to read the file when offline.

The download folder is located under the sdcard folder (called primary in Astro file manager), but you can access it using the downloads icon in your Apps tray.

Once it is the download folder you can use a file manager to move it to another location e.g.an external SD card.

If you cache the file then you can read it from the Google Drive App when offline.

However file caching has size limits, and so it cannot be used for large files like movies, or for lots of files.

[outline style=”yellow”]You cannot move cached files to external storage.[/outline]

Viewing Your Cached files

Click on Menu (top left) or swipe from left edge of screen to the right.

Then select on device from the list.

You will then see a list of files that have been cached, and that you can access when offline.

The size of the cache can be changed by going to settings. The maximum cache size is currently 250MB.

Note: Caching limits didn’t appear to be working when I was testing

You can find the offline files in the following location:

sdcard>Android>data>com.google.apps.docs>files>pinned_docs_files_do_not_edit.

They are stored under a folder with a more or less random name.

Although in the screen shot above it shows a pdf file you cannot open this with adobe reader.

It is in a format that is only understood by the Google Drive App.

Moving Files from Android to Google Drive

You can move files and photos from your android device to Google Drive or from Google Drive to Android by using a file manager.e.g. Astro File Manager.

In Astro File Manager Locate the file then press the menu icon and then share.

Choose Google Drive from the Activity chooser.

If you have multiple Google accounts configured then you can then select the Google account to use.

You also need to select a folder location on Google drive, and then press save to store the file/files.

You can then delete them from your device to free up storage space.

Using Multiple Google Drive Accounts

If you have several Google accounts then each account has an associated Google drive cloud storage available

You can access each of these drives from the Google Drive App.

Click on Menu (top left) or swipe from left edge of screen to the right.

The account currently being used is shown at the top left. Click the small while arrow to show other accounts (if you have them).

Then press on the account you want to switch to, and switch accounts.

Transferring Files Between Devices With Google Drive

You can install Google drive on Linux,MAC,Windows,IOS and Android.

Therefore you can use it to copy,move or share files/pictures etc between your PC and tablet.

You simply copy the file to Google drive and download the file from Google drive onto the other device.

Common Questions and Answers

Q- Can I store offline files on external sd card storage?

A- It appears not- See the google drive product forum answer.

Q- Can I copy/move Pictures,Files or folders from Google Drive to an External SD Card.

A- Google drive doesn’t let you do this directly, but you can use a file manager line Astro file manager that will let you do it.

You can also download them to the download folder, connect your device to your PC using a USB cable and use the Windows file manager to move the files.

Q- Can I change to location of the download folder?

A- I haven’t found out how although there are several articles on the Internet that say you can.

Summary

Using Google drive cloud storage on your tablet/phone is an ideal way of easily increasing the effective storage space on your phone or tablet, and for moving and sharing files,pictures etc between Android,and other devices.

Related Articles and Resources:

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Top 4 Amaz­ing Apps for Upload­ing Fold­ers to Google Dri­ve on Android

Gaurav Bidasaria

08 Jul 2020

Google Drive makes it incredibly easy to share files and folders with others. Uploading files stored on your smartphone is also super easy. What’s not easy is uploading folders to Google Drive from your Android phone. It turns out the Drive app has no option to select a folder and sync/upload it to the cloud.

That’s surprising seeing how Drive allows you to select folders on the desktop. You can sync any folder without uploading individual files or moving all files to the primary Drive folder. Drive’s Android app doesn’t work that way and uploading individual files can be tedious. What if you lose your phone? You will lose all files that weren’t uploaded since the last time. Fortunately, there are some third-party apps that can help, and we have listed them all below for you.

1. Solid Explorer

Solid Explorer is one of the most popular file-sharing apps available on the Play Store. It gained fame for its minimalist and clean UI packed with useful features. One of them is the ability to connect to many cloud storage apps like Google Drive.

Step 1: Tap on the + icon to select New cloud connection where you will give Google Drive necessary permissions. Follow on-screen instructions after that.

Step 2: Rotate your phone (landscape) to enter the split-screen mode. You can now access and work with two separate folders on the same screen. Open Google Drive in one and the folder you want to move in the other.

Step 3: You can either drag and drop the folder or use the copy/transfer option from the menu. Note that you will need the pro version for this to work.

Also on Guiding Tech

Google Drive Sharing Permissions Explained: A Detailed Guide

2. FolderSync

The problem with Solid Explorer is that you can transfer folders between local and cloud storage. But, it doesn’t offer sync that works automatically and behind the scenes.

FolderSync Lite (free) version will solve that issue.

Step 1: Open the app and Tap on Create New Sync to begin the process.

Step 2: Choose a name for this particular sync and tap on Add Account on the next screen.

Step 3: Select Google Drive from the list, but you will notice there are a plethora of other sites.

Step 4: You will need to Authenticate Account by signing in and giving necessary permissions. Don’t forget to enter Unique Name and tap on Save button to complete the process, as shown in the above screenshot.

Step 5: Select Folderpairs from the sidebar menu and tap on the + icon to begin the pairing process. There are three types of sync available.

• To local folder: files/folders will sync from Drive to your phone
• To remote folder: files/folders will sync from phone to Drive account
• Two-way: files/folders will sync both ways

Choose as per your needs and set up other options as you like. You have a lot of control over how and when sync takes place. You can always come back and change settings.

FolderSync solves an essential problem that has largely been ignored by Google. You can now sync and upload folders to Google Drive on Android.

3. MiXplorer

MiXplorer is an open-source and free file explorer that comes from the house of XDA Developer forums. You will have to sideload the app before you can install it. Once installed, tap on the menu icon and select Add storage to give access to Google Drive.

Follow the on-screen process to sign in and give the app necessary permissions to access Drive files and folders. You can now select any file or folder from internal storage and move it to Drive.

Also on Guiding Tech

Solid Explorer vs FX Explorer: Which Is the Best File Manager

4. FX Explorer

Last but not least, Finally FX Explorer is another file explorer app for Android smartphones. The process largely remains the same albeit in a different UI. Open the app and tap on Cloud Storage to select Google Drive. Follow on-screen steps to grant access to your account and thereby, to your files and folders.

You can enable Split View from the sidebar menu. Instead of side by side view like in Solid Explorer, FX Explorer takes a top-bottom approach. So, there is no need to enter landscape mode either. Just copy the folder from your internal storage on one screen and paste it inside Google Drive.

Cut, Copy, Paste, Repeat

Yes, it might beat you that something as trivial as uploading folders is still missing from Google Drive. There are a few other file explorer apps (like ES Explorer) that support different cloud storage services, but the basic premise remains the same. I would recommend FolderSync if you are looking for automatic sync with advanced features. You can go for any of the other file explorer apps if it is a one-time thing where you want to upload a folder to Google Drive on your Android phone.

Next up: Learn how far you can stretch that free 15GB of storage space on your Google Drive account. Find out what counts and what doesn’t towards the limit.

Last updated on 8 Jul, 2020
The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.

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