If some or all of your files are not syncing between your computer and My Drive , follow the troubleshooting steps below to fix the problem. Basic troubleshooting You might encounter these general problems with Drive for desktop: Files not syncing between your computer and My Drive . Drive for desktop stops or quits suddenly. Try to fix the issues with these basic steps: Check if your computer meets the system requirements . Check your computer's internet connection. Restart Drive for desktop. Restart your computer. Disconnect and reconnect your account. Reinstall Drive for desktop. System cleaner apps Advanced SystemCare On your computer, open Drive for desktop. Mac: In the top menu bar, click Settings Quit . Windows: In the bottom right taskbar, click Settings Quit . Mac: In the top menu bar, click Settings Quit . Windows: In the bottom right taskbar, click Settings Quit . Reopen Drive for desktop. On your computer, open Drive for desktop. Click Settings Preferences Advanced Settings . Find the account you want to disconnect. Click Disconnect account . Tip : Any files that failed to sync previously may have been moved to your Lost & Found folder, which will be deleted when your account is disconnected. Before you disconnect your account, copy those files to a safe location . Tip : Any files that failed to sync previously may have been moved to your Lost & Found folder, which will be deleted when your account is disconnected. Before you disconnect your account, copy those files to a safe location . Choose a new location for the Google Drive folder. On your computer, go to the Drive download page . Download the most recent version of Drive for desktop. Install the application. Drive for Desktop Onboarding Download Drive for Desktop Important: Before you start, check that your operating system is compatible with Drive for desktop . Download Drive for desktop: DOWNLOAD FOR WINDOWS DOWNLOAD FOR MAC On your computer, open: GoogleDriveSetup.exe on Windows GoogleDrive.dmg on Mac Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation. DOWNLOAD FOR WINDOWS DOWNLOAD FOR MAC On your computer, open: GoogleDriveSetup.exe on Windows GoogleDrive.dmg on Mac GoogleDriveSetup.exe on Windows GoogleDrive.dmg on Mac Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation. Install and open Drive for Desktop Install Drive for Desktop On your computer, open: GoogleDriveSetup.exe on Windows GoogleDrive.dmg on Mac Follow the on-screen instructions to install the Drive for Desktop. Install the application on your computer. On your computer, you'll find a folder called "Google Drive." Open Drive for desktop: When you install Drive for desktop on your computer, it creates a drive in My Computer or a location in Finder named Google Drive. You can find Drive for desktop File in a different place, depending on what computer you use: Windows: At the bottom right of your screen. Mac: At the top right of your screen. Any new files or folders you create in Drive or Drive for desktop sync and appear on all your devices. Click Drive for desktop > Tap your name > Open Google Drive. In My Drive or Shared drives, double-click the file that you want to open. Sign in to Drive for desktop When you open Drive for desktop for the first time to log in: On your computer, open Drive for desktop. Click Sign in with the browser. Sign in to the Google Account you want to use with Drive for desktop. Fix error messages Delete files on the drive listed in the message, for example, C: drive in Windows. Exit Drive for desktop. Restart Drive for desktop. On Windows: Right-click on the file or folder. Click Properties . Check the “Security” tab. Right-click on the file or folder. Click Properties . Check the “Security” tab. On macOS: Right-click on the file or folder. Select Get Info . Check the “Sharing and Permissions” section. Right-click on the file or folder. Select Get Info . Check the “Sharing and Permissions” section. These items can’t be backed up to Google Photos : Photos larger than 200 MB or 150 MP Videos larger than 10 GB Files that are smaller than 256 x 256 pixels If your file is too large, you can: Reduce size of photo/video. Delete photo or video. Move photo or video to a non-syncing folder. If your file is too small, you can: Delete photo or video Move photo or video to a non-syncing folder If you moved the Google Drive folder to a new place on your computer On your computer, open Drive for desktop. On the notification, click Locate . Select your renamed version click Open . Google Drive will reconnect. If you renamed your Google Drive folder On your computer, open Drive for desktop. On the notification, click Locate . Select your renamed version click Open . Google Drive will reconnect. If you deleted the folder you are mirroring your My Drive to

On your computer, open Drive for desktop. On the notification, click Stop syncing this directory . If you don’t want to sync that folder anymore On your computer, open Drive for desktop. Go to Preferences select the folder and uncheck Drive and/or Photos. After you locate your missing folder, it will take some time for Drive for desktop to complete. To sync changes, ask the owner to reshare the item with you. If the item has been deleted, remove it from the syncing folder and add it back. If you don’t want to sync changes and want to resolve the error, delete the file from your computer. Changes can’t be synced because the file may have been deleted or moved to trash on your computer. To sync changes, restore the item from your computer’s trash. The Google file you’re trying to sync has been corrupted. Since Google Docs (.gdocs) and other Google files' content aren't stored on your computer, using a third-party editor to make changes to these files can corrupt them. To resolve the issue, make a copy of the original Google file in Drive Web and delete the invalid Google file on your computer. You may need to reshare the file with collaborators. Important: You need to be an administrator for your computer and enter your computer password to complete these steps. If you use Drive for desktop on MacOS Mojave or High Sierra, permissions required to sync Drive files can get corrupted. To resolve this issue: On your computer, click Finder Applications . Open the Utilities folder. Click Terminal . Enter sudo kextcache -clear Enter sudo mv /private/var/db/KernelExtensionManagement /private/var/db/KernelExtensionManagementBackup Enter sudo kextutil -l /Library/Google/DriveFS/dfsfuse.kext Launch Drive for desktop. Some reasons your account won't load include: You aren’t connected to the internet. You don’t have any available drive letters (Windows only). Your proxy settings don't allow Drive for desktop to run. Your admin doesn’t allow Drive for desktop for your organization or on your device. To load your account: Make sure you’re connected to the internet. Free up a drive letter and restart the application (Windows only). Disconnect and reconnect your account. Contact your administrator. Your local changes are incompatible with changes in the cloud. The original file has been deleted or moved. You no longer have permission to edit that file. You move a file into a deleted folder or a folder you don’t have permission to edit. macOS: /Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/Google/DriveFS/lost_and_found/<account_token> Windows: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Google\DriveFS\lost_and_found\<account_token> For macOS: The “Library” folder is hidden by macOS by default. If it’s hidden for you, you can access this folder by opening Finder, then at the top-left corner, clicking Go Library . For Windows: You can find the AppData folder by typing %AppData% in the address bar directly. The <account_token> folders correspond to each of the accounts that are signed into Google Drive. The folder name is a long string of numbers. For example, folder name: 1245555729303 The <account_token> folders correspond to each of the accounts that are signed into Google Drive. The folder name is a long string of numbers. For example, folder name: 1245555729303 For example, folder name: 1245555729303 Drive for desktop encountered a problem & stopped Certain virus detection and security software can interfere with the operation of Drive for desktop. If you have virus scan software on your computer and repeatedly get the error "Drive for desktop encountered a problem and has stopped," exclude Drive for desktop from your virus scan. For Windows: The default streaming location is G:, but may be another location that you've configured. For macOS: The default streaming location is /Volumes/GoogleDrive, but may be another location that you've configured. Advanced troubleshooting Select your folder in Finder . At the top-left corner, right-click or select File . Select Get Info . In the table under “Sharing & Permissions,” make sure your username has “Read & Write” privilege. Select your folder in File Explorer . Select Properties . Click the Security tab. In group or user names, click your username, make sure you have “Allow” for all the permissions and no check marks under “Deny.” To edit your permissions, click Edit . /Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/Google If you don’t have permission to this folder, you won’t have the DriveFS folder. Once you grant permission to this folder, you ‘re able to start the app and the app will create the DriveFS folder. If you don’t have permission to this folder, you won’t have the DriveFS folder. Once you grant permission to this folder, you ‘re able to start the app and the app will create the DriveFS folder. /Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/Google/DriveFS C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Google\ If you do not have permission to this folder, you won’t have the DriveFS folder below. Once you grant permission to this folder, you are able to start the app and the app creates the DriveFS folder If you do not have permission to this folder, you won’t have the DriveFS folder below. Once you grant permission to this folder, you are able to start the app and the app creates the DriveFS folder C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Google\DriveFS Enter the folder in the address bar of File Explorer to get to the folder directly. To navigate through clicking the files, in the address bar, type %AppData% to get to the AppData folder. Once you reach the Google or DriveFS folder, follow the steps in Google Drive cannot back or sync your folder to grant permissions to the folders . Navigate to your local cached files directory specified in the notification, or the path that's shown under the local cached files directory setting. Make sure this folder has read and write permissions. To do so, you can follow the steps in Google Drive can't back or sync your folder . Make sure this folder has read and write permissions. To do so, you can follow the steps in Google Drive can't back or sync your folder . Navigate into the local cached files directory, make sure each of these folders has read and write permissions. You find a folder or folders with a long string of numbers as the folder name For example, folder name: 1245555729303 Each of these folders is for each of the accounts that are signed into Google Drive. You find a folder or folders with a long string of numbers as the folder name For example, folder name: 1245555729303 For example, folder name: 1245555729303 Each of these folders is for each of the accounts that are signed into Google Drive. Navigate into the account folders and find a folder named “content_cache.” Make sure each of the “content_cache” folders within your account folders have read and write permissions. Make sure each of the “content_cache” folders within your account folders have read and write permissions. Google Drive is unable to start when it encounters a File Provider initialization error. This error is an error from macOS. If you encounter this error: Update your macOS operating system to the latest version Restart your computer Sign out of your Google Account. In the pop-up window, press and hold Shift . Select Reset User Preferences . Sign in to your account again. On your computer, open Drive for desktop. Click Settings Send feedback . Type your feedback. To give us insight into what is wrong, click Include diagnostic logs . Send an error report to Google Learn how to capture Google Drive for desktop logs for support . Need more help? Try these next steps: To get the latest tips, tricks, and how-to's, subscribe to our YouTube Channel .