3 Way to Sync Hard Drive to Google Drive | Local & External

Are you looking for the best way to sync hard drive to Google Drive? Read this post and get the easiest way to sync local/external hard disk to Google Drive. Two traditional ways are also mentioned here.

By @Jonna Last Updated October 8, 2024

How do I upload my entire hard drive to Google Drive?

As one of the most popular file-hosting services, Google Drive allows you to back up files to the cloud, share files with others, and edit files in real-time collaboratively with partners. Google Drive offers 15GB of free space per user. When the free space runs out, you can upgrade your storage plan or get more free Google Drive storage by cleaning up trash. But what do you do when your hard drive space is full of data?

The most effective solution is to sync hard drive to Google Drive. How can I upload hard drive files to Google Drive? We present three easy and free methods on this page.

Benefits of Syncing Hard Drive to Google Drive

Saving data to Google Drive has several advantages:

  • A generous 15GB of free space. Google Drive comes with 15GB of free storage, more than the free quota of most cloud storage services on the market.
  • Free up local disk space. When your files are stored on Google Drive, you can choose to keep them only in the cloud and not sync them locally to clean up hard drive space.
  • Keep copies of important files for disaster recovery. Backing up your files to Google Drive reduces the risk of data loss by protecting them online from accidental deletions, viruses, etc.

Before you start: Make sure your Google Drive free space is larger than the hard drive file size, otherwise the data upload will fail.

Easiest Way to Sync Hard Drive to Google Drive

If you want to sync hard drive with Google Drive as fast and easily as possible, you need a professional and useful tool. Here is one of the best and wisest choices - CBackup.

This is a proficient cloud backup and synchronization service that allows you to sync files and folders from internal or external drives to mainstream cloud drives for free. Currently, it supports cloud drives including Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, etc. With a clean user interface, you can easily let Google Drive sync external drives, as well as local disks even if you're a computer novice.

In addition, CBackup has the following merits:

Scheduled sync: With timed synchronization tasks, you can make the synchronization tasks automatically execute at a certain time, every day, every week, and every month, which is convenient and practical.
One-way sync: If you don't want to sync cloud files locally or want to remove hard drive files after sync, it can help you to complete Google Drive one-way sync only from local to cloud.
Sync hard drive files to multiple accounts: Supports adding and managing multiple, even unlimited Google Drive accounts on a single interface, allowing you to choose to synchronize hard drive to a certain cloud as needed.
File Filter: Provides file filtering to exclude certain unimportant files from syncing to save Google Drive storage space.
Email notification: Support email reminders for synchronization tasks to keep track of the task progress.
Widely Compatible: Works with all Windows operating systems, including Windows 11/10/8/8.1/7/XP.

Stepwise Guide: How to Sync Hard Drive to Google Drive using CBackup

How to sync my drive with Google Drive? In the following, we will show you how to sync local drive with Google Drive, and the same goes for external disks. You can also use it to easily backup external hard drives to OneDrive and more clouds. Please click the button to download and install CBackup and follow the tutorial below.

Download CBackupWin 11/10/8.1/8/7/XP
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Step 1. Apply for a free account for CBackup and log in to the CBackup client. Please plug in your external drive to your computer in advance, if you want to sync USB drive to Google Drive.

Step 2. Click on the Storage tab on the left and select Google Drive, then click Authorize Now to complete the authorization for CBackup to access your Google Drive storage space.

Step 3. Select the Sync tab, then tap on Sync PC to Public Cloud.

Step 4. In the Source section, add the hard drives you wish to sync to the cloud, then click the > symbol next to Google Drive to select your Google Drive sync folder. You can also click the + button to create a new destination folder.

Step 5. Then, click Start Sync to sync hard drive to Google Drive with ease.

To set up automatic synchronization tasks, you can click Settings in the lower-left corner > select Scheduler > pick an appropriate synchronization frequency > click OK.

Traditional Methods to Sync Hard Drive to Google Drive

In addition to the best methods to sync hard disk to Google Drive above, we'll list two traditional sync methods for you. Though they are more complex and can take a significant amount of time, sync tasks can be accomplished.

Solution 1. Sync Hard Drive with Google Drive Manually

With the web version of Google Drive, you can sync external drive to Google Drive by uploading data manually.

Step 1. Go to the Google Drive website and log in with your Google account.

Step 2. On the Google Drive main page, click the Upload files or Upload folder button under My Drive.

Step 3. Navigate to your hard drive files in the pop-up window and select them for synchronization.

Solution 2. Sync Hard Drive to Google Drive with official application

You can also turn to the Google Drive PC desktop application, Drive for desktop, to sync your hard drive files to Google Drive.

Note: Google Drive is a two-way sync software. When you use Drive for desktop to sync hard drive files to the cloud, the cloud files will automatically sync to your local drive, which may take up much local space.

Step 1. Install Google Drive for desktop on your computer, and log in to your account.

Step 2. On the My Computer screen, click Add Folder to select the hard drive folder to upload to Google Drive.

Step 3. Choose the Sync with Google Drive option and click Done to sync external hard drive to Google Drive, as well as local disks.

Bonus Tip: Backup Hard Drive to Another Secure Cloud

Besides Google Drive, you can also choose to sync or backup your hard drive to other clouds. CBackup Cloud is a considerable option, which comes with 5GB of free backup space and offers you more storage plans like 1TB and 5TB at a very low price.

Step 1. Launch CBackup, navigate to the Backup tab, and select Backup PC to CBackup Cloud.

Step 2. Name the task and select your hard disk files and folders for backup.

Step 3. Click Start Backup to start the hard disk backup task.

Concluding Words

This article lists three easy and free ways to sync hard drive to Google Drive. If you want to provide extra protection for your Google Drive files, you can use CBackup to back up or transfer your Google Drive to another account or other cloud effortlessly.