With no official Google Drive Linux client available, it’s left to third-party apps, devs services to fill the file-syncing void for FOSS fans.
And boy are there are a lot of options out there that do just that!
Any good and free Google Drive clients for linux? I am wanting a program that will sync files directly on my computer like dropbox. But I can't seem to find any programs that will do the job, and the GNOME Google Drive integration is too slow and won't let me view files offline. Tuxdrive is a free console-based Google drive client for Unix-like operating systems. Using Tuxdrive, we can access google drive from Terminal, and also we can download/upload, manage all our stuffs in Google drive. It is completely free and open source. Tuxdrive - A Commandline Google Drive Client For Linux.
One could compile a list of various Google Drive Linux clients available for Linux, ranging from those with a GUI to those using a CLI.
I prefer to mount Google Drive on Ubuntu using ocamlfuse via Nautilus. This free, open-source tool is simple to use. The only drawback is that Google Drive ocamlfuse does not sync files locally: you have to be online to access them.
Other alternatives
If you were to ask what the best way to sync Google Drive files on Linux desktops is most would ‘recommend’ InSync. Indeed, many are happy to sign-up for and use InSync, a paid, proprietary service.
Since you might not want to pay a fee to use something that is free to use on other operating systems, there are other solution.
Which is where ODrive (Open Drive) comes in.
ODrive: Google Drive Sync for Linux
ODrive is a free, open-source Electron application that allows you to sync and/or backup files to and from Google Drive without needing to open browser tabs or tussle with Terminal-based tools.
One major plus to this tool is that it’s simple to set-up and simple to use. There are no extraneous options or settings to master, no controls or integrations to enable.
- Sync files to/from Google Drive & Ubuntu
- Auto-updates modified files
- Desktop notifications
- System tray applet
Simplicity is this client’s major downside, too. ODrive is a basic, no-frills option. There are no sync controls (i.e. no selective sync), no way to exclude files from downloading.
Use ODrive download and sync your Google Drive files to your computer — each and every one of them!
The “all or nothing” approach isn’t a major rub if you only have a few GBs of files stashed away in your Google Drive storage.
But if you have oodles of large uploads then ODrive probably isn’t the solution for you.
Download ODrive for Linux
ODrive is available for Ubuntu, Linux Mint and other Linux distributions, as well as macOS and Windows. You can download the latest release for Linux from Github in a variety of formats, including AppImage.
It’s 2019 and Google still has no Linux client for Google Drive. If you’re on Mint and want to connect to Drive, thankfully you have a few good options.
Connect Google Drive on Linux Mint Cinnamon
On Mint there a few different options for connecting to Google Drive. If you are only interested in connecting via the Gnome File Browser GUI, you can add Google Drive and other cloud storage services using the Online Accounts Feature. If you want filesystem access there are projects like like google-drive-ocamlfuse or gcsf, but are definitely designed for the more technical user.
ExpanDrive is a Google Drive client for Mint that has both filesystem-level mounted access through a fast network drive as well as a full featured ftp-style browser and uploader. It includes advanced features such as offline sync, background synchronization and many other powerful improvements over a standard network drive.
Mounting Google Drive on Mint
ExpanDrive has been available on Mac and Windows for over 10 years and has a few million users. In 2019 version 7 was released and added support for a wide variety of Linux distributions including Ubuntu, Red Hat, Linux Mint, CentOS, Debian and most other popular distributions.
ExpanDrive providers a variety of powerful features such as multi-threaded background uploads, a full graphical user interface to facilitate bulk transfer, integrated search and version management along with much more. The main product page goes into detail on many of these features.
It supports personal Google Drive accounts as well as GSuite Drive accounts, including support for Team Drives. It securely connects to the Google Drive API and transparently supports ADFS and 2FA.
Download ExpanDrive for Mint
Released October 13th, 2020
Installation Instructions
Desktop based installations
ExpanDrive ships primarily as a desktop app with a user interface for advanced configuration and management. We also have a server edition that runs headless for Windows and Linux Servers.
Debian and Ubuntu based desktop distributions
For Debian and Ubuntu based distributions the easiest way to get started is to download and install the latest .deb package (64 bit), either through the graphical installer or via the command-line with the following command.
Installing the .deb will also automatically install the apt repository and code signing key to enable easy update using the system package manager.
You can install the repository and key manually with the following script
Then you update the package cache and install ExpanDrive using:
Google Drive Client App
RHEL, Fedora, and CentOS based desktop distributions
Download our latest .rpm package (64-bit) and use yum to install ExpanDrive and the required dependencies.
Installing the .rpm will also automatically configure the yum repository and code signing key to enable easy update using the system package manager.
You can install the yum repo manually using the following script:
Then update your package cache and install Expandrive using dnf (Fedora 22 and above):
or using yum
Server/Headless Edition
Head over to our ExpanDrive Server Edition page for instructions and packages for Windows and Linux servers. ExpanDrive Server edition is designed to run unattended, at boot [versus login], and provides drives that can even be re-shared on the network.
Amazing Reviews
“ExpanDrive lets you mount remote sftp drives and it actually works! I.e. no long delays or dropped connection in the middle of a save.”
Google Drive Linux Client Official Site
Allan Odgaard, TextMate
“My first impression after reading ExpanDrive’s promotional description last week was that it sounded too good to be true. One week later, I’m pretty sure it actually is that good.”
John Gruber, Daring Fireball
Download Google Drive Linux
ExpanDrive connects your files as a fast network drive and accesses all of your data on demand. You can browse and open any file from within your file manager or from the command-line. ExpanDrive builds native access to Google Drive into Linux.