Google announced earlier this year its plan to merge Drive's discrete syncing clients for both businesses and consumers, namely Drive File Stream and Backup and Sync, into a single Drive for desktop client. The goal was to make it easier for everyone to keep and access their content across various devices and the cloud.
Today, Google announced that it is rolling out several Drive for desktop capabilities to both macOS and Windows. The app gives you direct access to files stored in the usual locations in your desktop and backs up content to the cloud. Some of the headline features in the unified client include the option to upload images directly to Photos or Drive. Prior to this change, you needed to upload a certain file to Drive first before a copy of it could be created in Photos.
Drive for desktop also brings support for external storage backup including flash drives and hard drives. You can also mirror Drive files on your desktop.
Google said those who are still using Backup and Sync will receive notifications over the coming weeks to start using Drive for desktop. That said, they can still use the old client, but only until September. Once the deadline lapses, they will no longer be able to sync their files using Backup and Sync, unless they make the switch.
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