Setting Up The Google Drive App

This guide provides a straightforward process for accessing and utilizing Google Drive on Windows, making it essential for staff, faculty, and students who need to manage their files efficiently. It outlines the steps to install and set up Google Drive, ensuring users can easily sync files for cloud backup and offline access. Please note while this is done in Windows, the same setup steps apply for any Mac OS devices.

Owen Kennedy
12 steps
53 seconds

Google Drive

Begin by selecting the Windows search bar.

Search for "Google Drive" and select to open it. If Google Drive isn't installed on your MMA computer, search for it in "Company Portal." On personal devices, you will want to download it from Google directly.

Click "Get started"

Click "Sign in"

A browser window will open prompting you to sign in. Make sure you're signing in with your My Maritime account.

Click "Open File Explorer to see Drive files"

The window that opens shows you where you can store your files. "My Drive" is your personal cloud storage. "Shared drives" is a shared storage space where you can share your files with other people. Simply open the drive, then drag and drop or copy and paste your files inside.

Click "Next" on the Google Drive window

Make sure you mark important files to be available at all times, even when offline. Files saved in "My Drive" or "Shared drives" won't always be available, or might not be the most recent version, if you don't have Internet access. To make a file always available for offline use, right click on the file or folder, select "Show more options", and then go to "Offline access" -> "Available offline".

In addition to saving files to My Drive or Shared drives, you can have Google Drive keep backups of your files in the cloud. These files will automatically sync to the same location, even if you sign into the Google Drive app on another computer. You can also find them on [drive.google.com](https://drive.google.com) under "Computers".

Confirm the folders you want to sync are here, then select Open Drive.

At this point you will have access to Google Drive files on your desktop, and your files will sync to the cloud. If you have any questions about this process or individual steps, please reach out to MMA's IT service desk at 508-830-5308, or [servicedesk@maritime.edu](mailto:servicedesk@maritime.edu)