Effective Saturday, May 12, Case Western Reserve University will no longer support the Google Drive desktop application for PC and Mac, at which time the application will stop syncing files between users’ computers and Google Drive. Online Google Drive will not change and any files stored in Google Drive will not be impacted.
If users would like to continue having access to Google Drive files via their computer’s Windows Explorer (PC) or Finder (Mac), it will be necessary to uninstall the old Drive application and install Drive File Stream and/or Backup and Sync. University Technology ([U]Tech) recommends transitioning to the new application(s) before May 12, as early adoption can identify and smooth over any issues.
Drive File Stream and Backup and Sync are available and can be installed at any time. Drive File Stream allows for streaming of My Drive and Team Drive files directly from the cloud, reducing sync time and hard drive data storage. With Backup and Sync, Drive content is synced locally to your computer and folders such as Documents and Desktop can be synced—serving the same purpose as the current Drive application. Backup and Sync does not support Team Drives.
Google is recommending Drive File Stream as an enterprise solution for organizations like CWRU that employ G Suite and is directing general consumers to Backup and Sync. However, the applications can be used at the same time.
Frequently asked questions can be found at case.edu/utech/google/drive-file-stream/.
See instructions for Drive File Stream.
See instructions for Backup and Sync.
Contact the [U]Tech Service Desk with any questions at help@case.edu, 216.368.4357 or help.case.edu.