Google Drive decided to change folder location from Ext HD to Internal

[Gr1f]

Hey all,
Anyone else experience this?

So I got this message on 3 separate drive accounts I had previously working perfectly from an external HD

macOS compatibility changes
Your Google Drive folder for name@mydomain.com has moved in order to continue compatibility with macOS. Drive was previously located in MyExternalHD but is now located in Macintosh HD - Data. Recent Items may be displaced due to this move, but are safe in their new locations. You can continue syncing your files normally.

Like WTF?? Thankfully, I do have a 4TB HD in my Studio Ultra but I also refer to keep Cloud storage on an external Drive which is made up of a 2 x Raid 0 NVMe enclosures.

 

[gilby101]

OneDrive and Dropbox users have been suffering this for up to year now. I didn't know Google had changed too, but see this for an explanation: https://support.google.com/drive/answer/12178485

Your files are probably now being stored in ~/Library/CloudStorage

Google gives you a choice of either "streaming" or "mirroring" https://support.google.com/drive/answer/10838124 so you can probably revert to the older behaviour.

 

[Gr1f]

Thanks for your reply.
Wonder why this behaviour only changed the other day on my machine, without warning.

Up to this point, I was streaming but I could also select storage location (ext HD). Way too much data on all drives to Mirror...

Dropbox uses a location I specified on Ext HD also Via Dropbox Menu/Preferences/Sync/Dropbox folder location. No change there so far.

 

[rck77]

I confirmed that one can indeed revert to the older behaviour -- of mirroring, to the external drive. Seemed to work in a relatively straightforward manner.

Solution: Google Drive Preferences > Google Drive (Folders from Drive) > My Drive syncing options > {change from 'Stream files' to:} • Mirror files > *and* change the location to your folder in your external drive.

To prevent re-downloading all the files from the cloud: before changing from 'Stream files' to 'Mirror files', have the folders and files already filed in the intended location on your external drive.

 

[Gr1f]

I confirmed that one can indeed revert to the older behaviour -- of mirroring, to the external drive. Seemed to work in a relatively straightforward manner.

Solution: Google Drive Preferences > Google Drive (Folders from Drive) > My Drive syncing options > {change from 'Stream files' to:} • Mirror files > *and* change the location to your folder in your external drive.

To prevent re-downloading all the files from the cloud: before changing from 'Stream files' to 'Mirror files', have the folders and files already filed in the intended location on your external drive.

Cheers,
Does this download all the actual files locally then?

 

[gilby101]

Does this download all the actual files locally then?

Mirroring: yes, unless they are already in the right location.

 

[ccalabro]

If you choose mirror to set the location, does reverting to stream keep the location or revert back to the local ~/Library location?