Extremely many users prefer Google Drive as their cloud storage because of its easy-to-use interface, along with the offering of free storage space of 15 GB per user. Nevertheless, the motives for saving data on an external hard drive might be different for different people; the motives might be based on increased security or the need for faster access. In either case, based on the underlying motive, this article shall provide the procedure to back up Google Drive to an External Hard Drive.

Methods for backing up Google Drive Files to an External Hard Drive

Here, three ways of Google Drive data backup to an external hard drive can be distinguished: the first way is direct download from Google Drive, the second way is through the Google Takeout Tool, and the third way is through the use of an automated tool.

The first way to back up data from Google Drive onto an external hard drive.

In order to use this method, follow the steps listed below:

1.      Open Chrome and go to the Google Drive Website
2.      Locate the files or folders you wish to back up.
3.     Then, select the Google Drive files that you would like to replicate to the External Hard Drive.
4.      Next, click Download from the drop-down menu.

The secondary method for transferring Google Drive files to an external hard drive.

To this effect, we use Google Takeout, a free tool offered by Google to transfer data from a Gmail account to an external hard drive.

1.     Go ahead and open the Chrome browser and log into your Gmail account where you will be saving files.
2.      Next, visit Google Takeout at Google and enter the first link.
3.      Choose the data to copy and click Next.
4.      Lastly, select the file format, frequency, and save destination for your saved files.
5.      After the above process is done, click on the Create Export button, and the tool will begin to download.
6.      Then you will have a link or a resulting backup file at the selected location.

Limitations in using these methods:

•         There is a file size constraint; Google Takeout accepts up to 50 GB files at a time.
•          There are no options available for customization.
•          They must repeat this exercise several times for several accounts.

Thus, if the above restrictions are not satisfactory, it is understandable that the third alternative should be adopted.

The third approach to safeguarding Google Drive involves transferring data to an external hard drive.

All companies would like to utilize the automated Google Drive backup software to copy their data to an external Hard Drive. Therefore, for that, I have an excellent suggestion: the Shoviv Google Drive Backup tool. The software possesses some really beneficial features, and therefore, it is one of the finest pieces of software to back up Google Drive.

Some of the features of the Shoviv Google Drive Backup tool

•         This application enables users to copy all the data saved in Google Drive.
•         Additionally, only significant data can be stored by users.
•         It offers multiple kinds of filters according to Folder, Date, File Extension, and Size.
•         It has a clean GUI.
•         Multiple Google Drive backup procedures can be run simultaneously.

How to use this utility to back up Google Drive to an External hard drive?

1.            Install and download Shoviv Google Drive Backup software.
2.            Then, input data to include Google Drive/ Google Workspace.
3.            Under the ribbon bar, select the Create Job option and click on it.
4.            Lastly, choose the Source and the Target, and press the Create Job button.
5.         Then, name the backup job, set the source and target projects, and then continue by clicking on the Next button.
6.             If necessary, turn on the filters of the various criteria, and click Next.
7.            On the Settings page, schedule a backup if necessary and then click Finish.
8.            Finally, the software will start backing up.

Read more: Google Drive backup

Conclusion

Thus, in this paper, three approaches have been explained that can be utilized for backing up Google Drive on an external hard drive. However, the first two approaches can be applied in individual use cases where the volume of data is small; however, for business purposes, it is better to utilize a programmatic solution like Shoviv's backup utility.