Google Drive is a popular cloud storage for storing photos, videos, files, etc. You get 15 GB of free storage with your Google account and up to 2 TB of storage with the paid plans.

However, if you've decided that you want to stop using the cloud service and transfer your data to another cloud storage or an offline storage device, the prospect can be daunting. But it doesn't have to be. There are a few methods you can use to download everything from Google Drive. Let's get going!

Download from Google Drive

You can manually download everything from Google Drive to your Windows PC or Mac.

  1. Go to drive.google.com in your browser and sign in to your account.
  2. Then, click on 'My Drive' from the menu on the left.
  1. Press Ctrl + A (Windows)/ Cmd + A (Mac) to select everything in your Google Drive.
Note: Drive usually only loads the first 50 files. You might have to scroll down and wait for all the files to load on the page before you can select them all.
  1. From the toolbar that'll appear towards the top, click the 'More actions' (three dots) button.
  1. Select 'Download' from the menu.
  1. Drive will begin to zip the files, and depending on the number of files you're downloading, it can take some time. You'll need to keep Drive open in your browser while the process completes.
  2. Once the zip file is made, it will be available in your default downloads folder. You can unzip it using any decompression tool, and all your drive data will be available on your computer.

It's a simple option for downloading everything from Drive if the data that you want to download is not too huge. But if the amount of files you want to download is huge, say 2TB, this might not be your best choice. Your computer might not even have that much space to allow for unzipping the file.

Use Google Takeout

Google Takeout is a service from Google that lets you export all your Google data, including data from Drive. If you want more control over the data you're downloading from Drive, it's a better option than the one above.

  1. To download your Drive data using Google Takeout, go to your Google account settings.
  2. Navigate to 'Data & privacy'.
  1. Scroll down and click the 'Download your data' option from the 'Download or delete your data' section.
  1. The Google Takeout page will open, and you'll see all the types of data you can download for your Google account. Click the 'Deselect all' option at the top.
  1. Then, scroll down and select the option for 'Drive'. As you select the option for Drive, a few options will appear underneath it that'll let you configure how to download the data.
  1. Click on the 'Multiple Formats' option, and you'll be able to select which format you want to download the various files in. For example, you can download documents as DOCX or PDF. Similarly, you can select a format according to your preference for every file type for which the option is available.
  1. From the 'Advanced settings' option, you can select if you want to include additional files with the download, like the named, published, and uploaded versions.
  1. Clicking the 'All Drive Data Included' option will let you select which data you want to download. Since you want to download all Drive data, don't make any changes.
  1. Now, scroll down and click on 'Next step'.
  1. Here, you can choose the destination of exported files (through email, Drive, Dropbox, and other cloud services), the frequency of exporting the data (once, or at recurring intervals), the format in which the downloaded data will be delivered (.zip and .tgz) and the maximum file size. After selecting the desired options, click on 'Create Export'.
  1. Depending on the amount of data, the export can take time. You can cancel the export or create another export from the Export Progress section.
  1. Once the export is complete, you will receive an email, and the export file will be available in your selected destination in your chosen format. You can extract the data from the .zip or .tgz file using an appropriate tool.
Note: While Google Takeout is a great option, some users dislike the fact that it makes a complete mess of folder structure while downloading the data. If you have a problem with that, you can use a free, third-party alternative, like Cyberduck, which keeps downloads cleaner.

Use the Google Drive Desktop App

You can also use the Google Drive desktop app on your Mac or Windows PC to backup and sync everything from your Drive to a folder on your PC. With the desktop app, all the changes you make in the drive are synced to the folder and vice versa automatically!

  1. If you don't have the Google Drive desktop app, you can download it from here.
  2. Once you've installed the app and signed in to your Google account, you can set it up how you want.
  3. If you're on a Mac, the app will ask for additional permission to sync; click on 'OK'. This step isn't required on Windows, and the rest of the steps are the same on both operating systems.
  1. Then, if you want to upload any files from your computer to Drive, select the folder that you want to sync; otherwise, click on 'Skip'.
  1. Similarly, if you want to back up anything from your computer to Google Photos, select it; otherwise, click on 'Skip'.
  2. Now, click 'Next' to access your Drive files on your computer.
  1. Then, click on 'Open Drive'.
  1. This would stream all the files and folders from your Google Drive onto your computer. But you'll still need an internet connection to access them. You can download any files you want to be available offline.
  2. But if you want all files/ folders to be downloaded automatically to your computer, open the Drive app. On Mac, click the Drive icon from the right of the menu bar. On Windows, click the Drive icon from the system tray.
  1. Then, click the 'Settings' icon from the Drive app and open 'Preferences'.
  1. A window will open; switch to 'Google Drive' from the left. Then, select 'Mirror files' from the two available options.
  1. Select the location where you want the files to be downloaded and click 'Confirm location'.

That's it. Your files will be automatically downloaded to your computer.

These were the different methods using which you can download everything from Google Drive. Depending on your needs, you can use the one that suits you the best.