Pros and Cons of Google Drive

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Google Drive is a free data storage service offering 15 GB of storage space to store and synchronize essential files, documents, pictures, etc. One of the most beneficial things about Google Drive is that it uses cloud computing technology to store your precious data on Google’s servers so that you can access it from anywhere. Let’s dive deep to know the advantages and disadvantages of Google Drive.

Pros of Google Drive

Below are the pros of Google Drive or, the advantages of Google Drive.

1- Access your files everywhere

One of the pros of Google Drive is that your files are stored on Google servers, so you can access them anywhere and anytime. All you need is the ability to access the Internet. Google Drive is a cloud-based document-saving system that never lets you lose important files, even when you lose your devices.

2- Instant access to edit files

Google Drive is the one-stop solution for all your Google files that gives you the added advantage of instant access to a suite of editing tools like Google Docs, Google spreadsheets, Google slide presentations, etc., allowing you to edit and make changes to your files.

3. Compatible with various devices

You can simply access your Google Drive files anytime and anywhere with various devices such as Personal Computers, Macs, iPhones, iPads, and Android devices, which makes Google Drive more beneficial.

4. A quick search of your files

Google Drive has the feature of searching by keyword and filtering by file type to get your files very easily in no time. One of the best advantages is that even though your file is an image file, you can also search for the word in the image file. You can also search depending on the accessing privilege of the files(like the owner)

5. View any file

Google Drive can open up to 30 types of files, such as HD video, Adobe Illustrator, and Photoshop, in your browser. The key pro is that you don’t need to install or own any of these file types on your PC.

You are flexible enough to store different file types in large sizes. You can store your favorite documents, videos, PPTs, audio, PDFs, and others without issues.

6. Sharing is simple

Google Drive allows you to share your files with collaborators and others with just a few simple clicks. This is one of the best pros of Google Drive. You can also set permissions where your collaborators can view, edit, and comment on your files or all of them. This feature makes your Google Drive files safer. Once someone has the link to the document, all they need is access to your drive, and they will have the file easily.

7. Open discussion

The comments feature is enabled in Google Drive, where you can create and reply to comments to get feedback and make files more collaborative in the Google Drive window.

8. 15 GB free storage space

Google Drive offers you a 15 GB storage space that is completely free. Upgrade your storage space plan to 25 GB for $2.49/month, 100 GB for $4.99/month, or even 1 TB for $49.99/month.

9. Best User Interface

The added pro of this online storage platform is that it is much easier to manage Google Drive. You can’t find any complications associated with maneuvering through the documents. The user interface of Google Drive is very simple, making it easy to navigate and find what you need quickly.

10. Great Usability and reduced cost

Google Drive is much easier to use and has a vast range of intuitive features, encouraging even fresh users to navigate through Google Drive easily. Google Drive is completely free, with 15 GB of data storage.

11. File Management and organization

Even though the organization of files on Google Drive is automated, you can customize the files to access them easily. Google Drive is far better than other storage devices in file management and organizations.

12. Backup your precious Files

You can back your precious files, photos, and other resources. All chosen files will be backed up on your computer whenever they appear on Google Drive. You can save your cloud data on your computer and customize it to automatically save your complex drive data on the cloud, making it available from any device.

13. Optical Character Recognition Feature

Google Drive has an optical character recognition feature that is capable of scanning through Google Drive documents saved by other users or collaborators and finding the word (or name) you searched for.

14. Secured files

Since your Google Account password is required to access any file in your Google Drive, your files are safer and secured in Google Drive. Advanced admin controls will add extra layers of security.

15. Easily compatible with Microsoft Products

Google Drive is fully compatible with different Microsoft products like Microsoft Word, Excel, etc. You can easily open your Word or Excel documents and even convert them to your required formats.

Even though you experience excellent benefits, you may also find drawbacks or cons while using Google Drive.

Cons of Google Drive

Now, we will see the cons and disadvantages of Google Drive.

1. Potential security risks

One major drawback of Google Drive is the risks associated with potential security. You will not find any password protection feature in Google Drive that can help you give your files an extra layer of security. This may affect when you send a link to someone and they decide to share it with someone else; there’s no way for you to stop them. Once the Google Drive link is shared, anyone with access to it can use it easily. This is a significant drawback of Google Drive.

2. Internet connection is inevitable

Another major disadvantage of Google Drive is you must be connected to the internet to see the real-time updates made. While you can work offline without an internet connection, your changes are only visible on your document on your device. So until you get back to a stable internet connection, your collaborators won’t be able to view any changes you made to the document.

3: Can’t upload files larger than 5 TB per day

Google Drive limits uploading when you reach 750 GB of uploads in one day. This is one of the significant pros of Google Drive. You will be automatically blocked from adding more files and must wait the next day to add more.

4. File size Limits

Embedded images inside documents in Google Drive should not exceed 2 megabytes. Text or alphanumeric documents in Google Drive are restricted to 1,024,000 characters, regardless of the number of pages. Slideshow presentations in Google Drive are restricted to 100 megabytes, which comes out to about 400 slides. These limitations are considered to be a huge disadvantage of Google Drive.

5. Unpredictable Third-Party Apps

Several apps and add-ons work with Google Drive. Some first-party apps from Google work well, but some third-party apps integrated with Google Drive are often bloated adware. Although all the third-party apps we found were free to install, many apps require payment to unlock all their features.

Google Drive permits you to use file storage collaboratively to edit spreadsheets, documents, drawings, presentations, forms, and more. Undoubtedly, Google Drive has a lot more pros compared to its cons.

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Let’s make use of the advantages of Google Drive and find workarounds to overcome the disadvantages of Google Drive. This is all about Google Drive advantages and disadvantages.