google_drive_in_file_explorer

Enables Google Drive for Desktop to show in Windows File Explorer, same as the way that OneDrive or DropBox does!

OneDrive and Dropbox both create non-removable shortcuts in the Windows Explorer sidebar - the same unfortunately cannot be said for Google Drive. The Scripts and Registry in this repository will make the necessary changes to allow for a Google Drive shortcut in Windows Explorer. The original article can be found at Adding Google Drive to the Windows Explorer sidebar

Disclaimer: This was tested on Windows 11 Professional, Windows 10 Professional and Windows 8.1 Professional. Ensure you backup your registry before making any changes.

Installation

1. Clone this repository.

2. Open enable_google_drive.reg in your favourite text editor.

3. Update references of DefaultIcon in line #32 & #48 @="C:\\Program Files\\Google\\Drive File Stream\\xx.x.x.x\\GoogleDriveFS.exe,0" to location you've installed Google Drive, keeping ",0" at the end of the drive path.

4. Update any references of "TargetFolderPath"="G:\\\My Drive" to location you have configured Google Drive to store files.

5. Save all changes.

6. Double-click enable_google_drive.reg to install and ensure you click "Yes" when prompted by UAC.

   To stop the drive icon reverting to default when Google Drive File Stream updates, create a backup copy of GoogleDriveFS.exe in a safe location (e.g C:\Backups) and update any references of @="C:\\\Program Files\\\Google\\\Drive File Stream\\\xx.x.x.x\\\GoogleDriveFS.exe,0" to this location instead. This is because this folder is deleted occasionally when Google updates their software.

Credits

Original work by Svenkle Github