Ah, the cloud. It sounds so light, so fluffy, so worry-free doesnt it?Here in the real world, though, cloud services arent always so simple. With Google Drive, specifically, whether youre storing and managing multimedia assets or dealing with documents and spreadsheets, theres a decent chance youll run into some manner of murkiness along the way.Drive does lots of things well, but it certainly has its share of, shall we say, quirks. Ive heard it all over the years and now, Ive put together a collection of some of the most common Drive challenges Ive encountered along with some fast n simple solutions to overcome em.Read through these fixes, hang onto any that seem relevant for future reference, and get ready to watch your cloud-related worries float away.Google Drive problem #1: Difficult downloadsFor something thats primarily a storage service, youd think the basic act of, yknow, transferring files with Drive would be effortless. Unfortunately, though, Drive is somewhat notorious for making downloads a massive pain in the patootie at least, when more than one file is involved.When you select multiple files on the Drive website and then try to download em all simultaneously, the site begins to package the files into a compressed zip archive and then, all too often, takes an eternity to finish that process and start your actual download. Its a frequently frustrating experience and the last thing you want to deal with when youre just trying to save some stuff and move on.Theres not much you can do about the process itself, but you can avoid the website entirely and transfer files in a simpler, faster, and more reliable manner. Youve got a few different options, all of which put the Drive website method to shame.First, if youre using ChromeOS, the function you need is built right into your Chromebook: Just open up the system Files app, find the Google Drive section in the left-hand menu, and drag and drop any folders or files between there and your local storage. loading="lazy" width="400px">The ChromeOS Files app has native Drive integration for easy file transfers.JR Raphael / FoundryOn a Windows or Mac computer, grab Googles official Google Drive desktop program. You can then choose either to mirror your entire Drive storage on the local device meaning anything in Drive is always synced and available directly on the computers own storage, and any changes or additions made on the computer will instantly be reflected in Drive as well or to stream files, as Google describes it, and make every file from Drive accessible on the computer but only actually synced and downloaded when you actively open it.Googles official Drive desktop app has two easy options for moving files back and forth between Drive and a Windows or Mac computer.JR Raphael / FoundryEither way, youll end up with a folder on your computer that basically becomes a place to see and access everything in your Google Drive storage. Anything you save to it or drag to it will automatically get uploaded to Drive, and the local folder and the Drive folder will always be identical in what they show (whether the files are fully downloaded and available locally, with mirroring, or simply available on demand via the streaming approach).And finally, if you want to get really geeky, you can actually use an FTP program to sign into your Drive account and then drag and drop things directly between it and your computer without any annoying interfaces or unnecessary time-wasters. If that sounds too complicated or confusing for you, then its probably not something you need. But if you use FTP in other parts of your life and find the possibility alluring, the specific program youll want to grab to make it happen is a free and open-source FTP client called Cyberduck. Its available for both Windows and Mac (and theres really no need for it on ChromeOS, since the same basic capability is built directly into the system file manager on that platform).Once youve installed the program, click the Open Connection button, select Google Drive from the dropdown menu at the top of the connection box, then click Connect. A page will pop up in your browser prompting you to allow the app access to your Drive storage, after which youll be given a special code that youll need to copy and paste back into a prompt thatll be waiting for you in the app.After youve done that, youll have a file-system-like view of your Drive storage right in front of you and you can drag and drop anything from your computer into it or anything from it into a local computer folder.Cyberduck lets you access your entire Drive storage via FTP on your computer.JR Raphael / FoundryAs an extra-geeky bonus, Cyberduck can do the same thing with Dropbox and OneDrive as well, in case you have any need to connect to either of those services.Google Drive problem #2: Office awfulnessI dont know about you, but I tend to get a whole lot of Word files sent my way. And since I long ago sent Microsofts Office apps a-packin and switched over to Google Docs for all of my own writing, I usually end up dragging those files into the Drive website to open em and do whatevers needed within my preferred environment.For years, Drive relied on a Chrome-connected system called Office Compatibility Mode to make that possible. Its a stripped-down interface where you can view and perform basic edits on Office files but where most advanced word processing features including commenting are missing in action. And quite honestly, its kind of irritating to use.Theres actually a much better option, though one youd probably never know existed if youve been using Drive for long enough to have that Compatibility Mode system in place. So here it is: Since mid-2019, Drive has supported native Microsoft Office file editing within the standard, fully featured Google Docs interface and without any conversions or stripped-down setups required.If youre still seeing that old Compatibility Mode when dragging Office files into the Drive website, all youve gotta do is remove the Office Editing extension from your browser by opening its Chrome Web Store page and clicking the Remove from Chrome button (which will be present if the extension is installed) and then refresh the Drive website, if you already had it open. The next time you drag an Office file into the site, Drive will automatically open it in an editor that looks and works exactly like the regular Docs editor, only with a blue .DOCX chip next to the files name to let you know youre using the Word format. (Just note that somewhat confusingly, you need to drag the file into the Drive website, not upload to the Docs website, for this to work.)Working with Office files in Drive is a delight once you get everything set up correctly.JR Raphael / FoundryThe file will remain in its original format throughout any edits you make. If you need to export it to send it back to someone after editing, you can always download or share it from Drive or directly from the Docs editing interface. (And while were been talking about documents specifically here, by the way, all of this same stuff applies to Excel and PowerPoint files as well.)Just one last thing to check: Drive has an option within its settings (which you can find by clicking the gear-shaped icon in the Drive sites upper-right corner and then selecting yep, you guessed it Settings) thatll automatically convert all uploaded documents into the Docs editing format. That typically isnt enabled by default, but if you want to make sure any Word files remain in the Word format, as described above, you might want to take a quick peek and confirm that that option is indeed deactivated on your account.Google Drive problem #3: Conversion challengesSpeaking of file formats, have you ever found yourself staring at a file in your Drive and wishing you had a way to turn it into some other type of file? Whether its a document you need to transform into a PDF, a PNG you need to morph into a JPG, or a WAV you want saved as an MP3, moving from one manner of file to another is a delicate and often difficult dance.It doesnt have to be, though. First of all, if the conversion you need revolves around any manner of standard text file PDF, RTF, DOCX, TXT, or even HTML or EPUB you can actually handle your transformation directly within Docs. Just open the file into Docs (either by double-clicking it within Drive, if it already has the Docs icon next to it and is set to open there by default, or by right-clicking it and then selecting Open with followed by Google Docs if not).From there, if the file is a PDF, itll automatically get converted into a plain-text document on the spot. If its any other type of file, you can click File followed by Download to find options for saving it into an alternate format.You can convert documents into lots of other file types directly within the Google Docs editor.JR Raphael / FoundryBut what if youre dealing with something beyond a basic text file? The answer there lies within an ultra-handy Google Drive add-on called CloudConvert. Open up the add-ons page within the Google Workspace Marketplace, click the button to install it, and follow the steps to add it into your account.Youll see some warnings about the level of access youll be granting the service, but dont fret: First of all, CloudConvert will have access only to the Drive files that you explicitly send to it or create with it, not to your entire Drive storage and second, the companys privacy policy makes it clear that it never reads or collects data from uploaded files or does anything shady with your info. (The company makes its money by selling subscriptions, but unless you anticipate doing more than 10 file conversions a day, you wont have to pay to use it.)After youve got that added, you can right-click on any file within Drive and then select Open with followed by CloudConvert to select a new format and begin a conversion. The resulting file will be saved back into your Drive storage as soon as its finished.Google Drive problem #4: Short-term sharing strugglesSharing is caring, but when it comes to sensitive files, you might not always want everything you share to remain eternally available to its recipient. And traditionally, that means its up to you to remember to go back a few days or weeks later and revisit a files sharing status.If youre in a paid Google Workspace arrangement, though through your company or organization theres now a better way. First, right-click on a file and select the Share option on the Drive website (or use the Ctrl-Alt-A [or Cmd-Alt-A, on a Mac] keyboard shortcut to get to that same area). Then, type in the name or email address of the person with whom you want to share and click the box next to that the one that probably says Editor by default.There, you should see an option to Add expiration. Click that, and you can then set a specific date and time at which the persons access will automatically expire. Hoorah!File sharing, with built-in expiration hey, well take it.JR Raphael / FoundryYou can select any date within the span of one year. The person youre sharing with could always save the file themselves outside of Drive or capture screenshots, of course, but youll be able to rest easy knowing your actual direct share and the direct access in your storage wont stick around forever.Google Drive problem #5: Mobile syncingThe Drive syncing systems we talked about a minute ago are great on the desktop front but when youre using Drive from your phone, youre much more limited in options.Sure, you can use the Drive apps built-in Make available offline function which you can find by tapping the three-dot menu icon alongside any individual file if you need to keep specific Drive files accessible on your device even when you arent online. If you want to actually sync entire folders in either direction, though, or have any files available for use outside of Drive itself, the official app wont be of any help.On Android, an app called Autosync for Google Drive will fill that void. Its among my picks for the best Android file transfer tools around, in fact, and for good reason: The app makes it as easy as can be to create pairs of folders that are continuously synced between your Drive storage and your phone in both directions, in just one direction, or even in an upload-and-then-delete sort of arrangement. You just pick out the local folder and the Drive folder you want to use, select the appropriate parameters, and then sit back and let the app do its work silently in the background over time.Autosync lets you keep folders synced between Drive and your Android device.JR Raphael / FoundryAutosync is free to use for a single folder pairing and with files that are 10MB or smaller. You can remove those restrictions and unlock other advanced features with a one-time $5 in-app payment.Google Drive problem #6: Suggestion overloadDrives Home view that welcome page that recently started showing up by default when you first open the site, with allegedly intelligent suggestions for which specific files and folders you might want to access is supposed to make it faster for you to find what you need. If it feels more like an annoying intrusion than a helpful resource for you, though, take note: You can pretty easily avoid it.Itll take you all of 10 seconds to do: Click the gear-shaped icon in the upper-right corner of the Drive website, select Settings, then change the option for Start page from Home to My Drive.And thats it: The next time you open up the Drive website, youll go straight to the standard view of all of your folders and files no saucy suggestions showing up and stealing your time first.Google Drive problem #7: Density difficultyLooking at a long list of files and finding yourself miffed by the fact that you cant see more stuff at once? Drives default desktop view isnt exactly space-efficient but, well, you guessed it: Theres a fast n simple fix.First, change the file view from the grid option to the far more info-dense list setup by clicking the icon that looks like three horizontal lines in the Drive websites upper-right corner right next to the icon that looks like four small boxes in a grid. (You can also hit Alt-V and then L, if youd rather go the keyboard shortcut route.) In the mobile app, youll tap a single icon with three horizontal lines in that same area, provided youre still in the default grid view.If you want to see even more files yet, on the web, you can click the gear-shaped icon in Drives upper-right corner and select Settings then change the option for Density from Comfortable to Compact. Thatll eliminate a bunch of the white space built into Drive by default and let you see much more info at a time on whatever size screen youre using.Google Drive problem #8: The buried file bluesWe all have those perpetually important files documents, images, and other resource-like items we pull up all the time. And always having to search for said VIP files to find em isnt exactly fun or productive.Drive doesnt have any way to pin files to the top of a list, but it does have some helpful tools for treating certain items as high priority and making em especially easy to find and access. First, you can star any file (or even an entire folder) by hovering your mouse over its line and clicking the star outline that appears along its rightmost edge, on the Drive website or by using the Ctrl-Alt-S (or Cmd-Alt-S, on a Mac) keyboard shortcut. In the Drive mobile app, youll tap the three-dot menu icon alongside the item and then select the Add to starred option in the menu that pops up.However you go about doing it, that action will cause the item in question to appear in a special starred section that you can then get to by clicking the Starred option in the main left-of-screen menu or by bookmarking this direct link for the desktop or by tapping the Starred tab within the main bottom-of-screen menu in the Drive mobile app.You can also create your own custom shortcuts for files or folders so that they effectively appear in multiple places if, say, you have an important item thats buried a few folders deep in your Drive and want it to be more easily accessible. By creating a shortcut for it, you could make it available from the main My Drive list while technically still leaving it in its properly organized home. Just right-click on any file or folder and select Organize and then Add shortcut to get started with that from a computer or use the Ctrl-Alt-R (or Cmd-Alt-R, on a Mac) keyboard shortcut. You can tap that three-dot menu icon next to any item to find the same option on mobile.If youre using Android, you can also add a direct shortcut to any file or folder right onto your phones home screen for one-touch access without even having to open the app. Tap the three-dot menu icon alongside the item you want, then scroll down and look for the Add to Home screen option to give it a whirl.Whew that pesky ol cloud is sure starting to feel a heck of lot lighter, isnt it? This article was originally published in December 2020 and most recently updated in August 2025.