Some notes on synching Google Drive data that other accounts shared with you
Posted by jpluimers on 2024/05/17
In the past (pre-2020) syncing shared Google Drive content was easy: Google Backup & Sync was still there and the web-UI of Google Drive was straightforward.
Syncing is important for me as it allows off-line working. Not all places have 24/7 internet access and not all cloud services are up 24/7.
So in 2020, with the mandatory (and often failing!) migration of Google Backup and Sync to Google Drive File Syncing and the new web-UI, things became a lot harder: Workaround to add a Shared With Me folder to your Google Drive (Google made this a lot harder in 2020).
Further into 2022 I discovered that way had become impossible for:
- new shares
- old shares that you had not set up syncing for
Old shares that you had set up syncing for kept working, and I hope they will for a long time, but I doubt they will.
Note this is not about free vs paid Google Drive data: the new situation fails for both cases.
For new shares or old shares you have not set up syncing for there basically seem to be two solutions, neither of them which is nice:
- Add the full account to your Google Drive File Sync (in total it can have 4 accounts) which has the big drawback of having to share credentials (I have done this with the Google Account of my deceased parents).
- Set-up a free or paid Google Workspace account and migrate all user accounts and data over to it (a truckload of work but way easier sharing and syncing).
Which means I have to re-think about how to sync stuff inside/outside my family, combined with shares among work or other types of relations.
Some links for my archive
- [Wayback/Archive] synchronization – How to sync my local files in a shared Google drive folder? – Web Applications Stack Exchange (the “then press Shift + Z. ” trick for sharing which back then could used for syncing, but now fails syncing; thanks [Wayback/Archive] ahorn for answering and [Wayback/Archive] maverick for asking)
- [Wayback/Archive] google drive – How can I access to “shared with me” folders? – Web Applications Stack Exchange (on what changed spring 2020; thanks [Wayback/Archive] ahorn for answering and [Wayback/Archive] Mahdiar for asking)
- [Wayback/Archive] What can you do with shared drives? – Google Workspace Learning Center
- [Wayback/Archive] free google workspace – Google Search
- [Wayback/Archive] Google biedt gratis versie Workspace aan voor iedereen met zakelijk e-mailadres – Computer – Nieuws – Tweakers
- [Wayback/Archive] Google introduces free Workspace plan in response to criticism | VentureBeat
–jeroen
The Wiert Corner - irregular stream of stuff 
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