Backup/Sync Google Drive to External Hard Drive (4 Easy Ways)

User Case: How to move files from Google Drive to an external hard drive

Why should you backup Google Drive to external hard drive?

Google Drive is quite a useful cloud storage drive that can help you manage your personal files whenever you want. Your files in it can be reached from any smartphone, tablet, or computer. So where you go, your files follow. And you can share your files with whoever you want. When you download Google Drive on your PC, there is a Google Drive folder. The files you save in the Google Drive folder will be synced to the cloud in real-time.

Redundancy: Having a backup of your Google Drive files on an external hard drive provides an extra layer of redundancy in case something happens to your online files. 
Offline Access: Storing a backup on an external hard drive allows you to access your files offline, which can be useful in areas with limited or no internet access. 
Data Security: Keeping a local backup of your Google Drive files on an external hard drive gives you more control over your data's security and privacy. You can encrypt the backup drive or store it in a secure location to prevent unauthorized access.
Faster Recovery: In the event of data loss or accidental deletion from your Google Drive, having a backup on an external hard drive allows for quicker recovery compared to re-downloading everything from the cloud. 

If you need to access these files frequently on different devices, you can sync the Google Drive folder to an external hard drive or a removable storage device just in case the Internet network goes offline. In addition, backing up Google Drive to an external hard drive is also an extra layer of data protection from file corruption or virus infection.

Free file sync tools for Google Drive sync

1. Drive for Desktop App

Drive for Desktop enables you to keep your files in sync between the cloud and your computer. That is, it will download files from the cloud and upload files from your computer’s hard drive. If you edit, delete, or move a file in one location, the same change happens in the other location.

2. AOMEI Backupper Standard

AOMEI Backupper Standard is a free and powerful file sync tool that is designed for Windows 11, 10, Windows 8.1/8, Windows 7, Windows XP, and Windows Visa. You can easily fix the problem of how to move files from Google Drive to an external hard drive. You can benefit a lot from the following features:

• File Sync: you can backup or sync Google Drive/OneDrive/Dropbox to an external hard drive, USB drive, and internal hard drive, and vice versa. You can also create multiple sync tasks to sync different folders or add multiple folders in one sync task to sync them simultaneously.

• Schedule: you can add a schedule to backup Google Drive automatically. You can set monthly, weekly, and daily syncs in Schedule Sync. When it reaches the specified time point, it will sync files and folders automatically.

3. Google Takeout

If you need to download all your Google Drive data at once, Google Takeout is a very convenient option. After downloading, you can manually transfer the files to your external hard drive. This process ensures you have a local backup of all your important data, simple steps to fix how to move files from Google Drive to an external hard drive

4. Google Drive Web App

If you don't have Drive for Desktop, you can use the Google Drive web app to download your files. Simply select and download the data you need, then transfer those files to your external hard drive. This method ensures your important data is safely backed up offline.

Read on to learn how to sync Google Drive with an external hard drive step by step.

How to backup Google Drive files to an external hard drive easily

Solution 1: Sync with Drive for desktop

Step 1. Connect the external hard drive to your computer and ensure it is recognized by Windows.

Step 2. Download and install Google Drive for your desktop on your computer. Then, log in to your Google Drive.

Step 3. Run Drive for desktop. Then click its icon in the taskbar, hit the Settings button, and choose Preferences.

Step 4. Go to the Google Drive section and select Mirror files.

Step 5. Click Change folder location and select your external drive. Then click Confirm location.

Tip: If your external drive contains any data, you’ll get a prompt, “The folder has content that will be synced with your My Drive.”

Step 6. Click Save and Restart now. Then Drive for Desktop will restart and your files will be synced from Google Drive to the external hard drive and vice versa.

Solution 2: Sync via AOMEI Backupper

Note: Before you sync Google Drive files with AOMEI Backupper, you should do some preparations in the Drive for the desktop. Just select the Mirror files option and use a local folder as the Google Drive folder. (You can keep the default folder location.)

Step 1. Connect the external hard drive to your computer and make sure it is recognized.

Step 2. Download, install, and launch AOMEI Backupper. Click Sync and choose the Basic Sync option.

Step 3. Click Add Folder to select the Google Drive folder as the source path. Then, click the blank bar below to select the external hard drive as the destination location.

Step 4. To set automatic file sync, click Schedule Sync and from here you can choose to sync your Google Drive files daily, weekly, or monthly.

Tip: You can also click Options to enable “Email notification”. Thus, when the file sync finishes, it will inform you with an email.

Step 5. Confirm the operation and click Start Sync.

With only 5 steps, you can sync Google Drive to an external hard drive quickly and easily. After you finish the file sync, you can find the task in Home and manage it.

Sync Now: If you don’t have a scheduled sync, you can sync files and folders manually.
Restore: It can restore all files in the target folder to the source folder or other places.
Edit Sync: You can add or remove source folders. Also, you can change the sync destination.
Delete: If you want to give up this task, you choose "Delete".

💛 Tip on how to backup Google Drive to AOMEI Cloud:

If you have an AOMEI account, you can directly backup Google Drive files to AOMEI Cloud. The cloud drive is integrated with AOMEI Backupper, so you don't need to download any desktop app. And it still offers you 1TB of free storage in 15 days. 

Solution 3: Download Data with Google Takeout

Step 1: Go to Google Takeout, select only Drive data by ticking the corresponding box, then scroll to the bottom of the page and click Next step.

Step 2: Customize the file type, export frequency, and destination as per your needs, and then click on the Create Export button.

Step 3: You'll receive an email from Google Takeout with a download link. Click on the Download your Files link in the email.

Step 4: Once the data is downloaded and exported, unzip the files/folders. Then, drag and drop them to your external hard drive for safe backup.

Solution 4: Use the Google Drive web app

Step 1: Log in to your Google Drive account and find the files or folders you want to back up.

Step 2: Select the desired files or folders, right-click on them, and choose Download.

Step 3: The selected items will be downloaded to your computer's default download location. You can change this default location in your Chrome settings if needed.

Step 4: Connect your external hard drive to your computer, ensuring it is detected. Then, drag and drop the downloaded files from your local computer to the external hard drive.

FAQs about how to move files from Google Drive to the external hard drive

1. Can you share Google Drive files with external users?

Yes, you can share files and folders with external users who don't have Google Accounts by enabling visitor sharing. This feature allows you to share with anyone or restrict sharing to trusted domains. For detailed steps, refer to the guide on enabling visitor sharing for non-Google users.

2. Can I save Google Docs to my hard drive?

Google Docs automatically saves your work in Google Drive, but you can also download a copy to your computer. Simply choose the download option to save a shared Google Docs file to your local drive.

3. Can I share files from my Google Drive?

Absolutely, you can share files and folders in Google Drive with anyone. When sharing, you have control over whether others can edit, comment, or just view the files.

Conclusion

In the above article, we provide you with four different ways to solve problems on how to move files from Google Drive to the external hard drive.

With AOMEI Backupper, you can backup/sync Google Drive to an external hard drive without effort. Besides the File Sync feature, this free software provides a File Backup feature which allows you to backup Google Drive files to an image file. It also has many other useful features like block-level incremental backup, disk cloning, and making bootable devices, etc. Don’t hesitate to give it a try!