Reminder: Legacy Google Drive Desktop sync client (Google Drive for Mac/PC) shutting down May 12, 2018

May 7, 2018

As previously announced, the old Drive desktop sync client for Mac and PC—a feature officially known as “Google Drive for Mac/PC”—will start to shut down on May 12th, 2018. After May 12th, the sync client may not work for bConnected Google accounts. 

Please note: Google Drive on the web has NOT been discontinued; you can still access it from https://drive.google.com!

Here are some important things to know about the retirement of the legacy desktop sync client:  

1. If you haven’t already, upgrade to a newer sync solution-- Drive File Stream or Backup and Sync.  

For more details, see: What are the Google Drive File Stream and Backup and Sync desktop apps? 

2. The turn-down will be gradual. 

Google will start the shutdown process on May 12th, but it will be gradual and may take several weeks to impact all organizations. After May 12th, however, updates to files may stop syncing between your computer and Drive, so we recommend upgrading by that date.

3. Once the client shuts down for you, the Google Drive folder will stop syncing. 

When the legacy Google Drive desktop sync client shuts down, it will stop syncing the Google Drive folder to Google Drive. The local Drive folder (containing your files) will not be deleted from the machine, but changes made inside this folder will no longer sync to Drive. We don’t recommend editing files inside of this folder after May 12th, as it could lead to users misplacing their edited files (not realizing that this folder isn’t syncing to Drive). To avoid confusion, you may want to delete the legacy Google Drive folder. By default, this folder is located at:

  • Windows: “C:\Users\%USER%\Google Drive” 
  • macOS: “/Users/$USER/Google Drive” 

Use caution when deleting this folder, as it may contain content that has not yet been saved or synced.

For more information, refer to article Important additional information about the legacy Google Drive desktop sync client shutdown on May 12