Need help running Google Drive smoothly on my Mac

Mac
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I’m trying to get Google Drive to run properly on my Mac and I keep running into sync issues and confusing settings. I’m not sure if I installed it the right way or if I should be using the desktop app or just the browser. Can someone walk me through the best way to install, set up, and run Google Drive on macOS so files sync reliably and don’t eat up my storage?

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Running Google Drive on a Mac (and what I actually use with it)

So I’ve been through the whole “how do I make Google Drive play nicely with macOS without making a gigantic mess of my disk” thing more times than I want to admit. Here’s how I run Google Drive on my Mac now, what I tried before, and what finally stuck.

Option 1: The official Google Drive app

If you just want the straightforward, “Google said to do this” approach:

  1. Go to Google’s official download page for Google Drive for desktop.
  2. Download the macOS installer.
  3. Run the .dmg file, drag the app into Applications like everything else.
  4. Launch it, sign in with your Google account.
  5. Choose how it handles files:
    • Stream files: keeps stuff in the cloud, only downloads on demand.
    • Mirror files: keeps a full copy on your Mac.

After that, Google Drive shows up in Finder like a regular disk/location on the left sidebar. You can open a file, save stuff, etc., like it’s a local folder.

Nice in theory. In practice, I ran into:

  • Random reindexing.
  • Finder extensions acting weird.
  • Two different drives (personal vs work) that I had to juggle.
  • Yet another menu bar icon yelling at me.

Some people never have issues; I kept having small, annoying ones.

Option 2: Just using the browser

For a while, I rage-quit the desktop app and just used Google Drive in the browser:

This works. It’s fine for light use. But:

  • No offline access unless you use Chrome and enable offline docs.
  • No “save directly from apps to Drive” like a normal folder.
  • Easy to lose track of versions and duplicates.

If you use Google Drive once a month, this is enough. If you live in it daily, it gets old fast.

Where I landed: treating cloud storage like mounted drives

What finally clicked for me was stopping thinking of “this is the Google Drive app” and “this is the Dropbox app” and instead treating all of them as simple mounted drives I can attach or detach when needed.

That is where I started using this app CloudMounter

Basic idea:

  • It mounts Google Drive (and a bunch of other services) as if they were actual disks in Finder.
  • Nothing is fully synced locally by default; files load when you open them.
  • It behaves like plugging in an external drive that happens to live in the cloud.

So instead of Google’s own Drive app running in the background, I have one tool that handles multiple cloud accounts and doesn’t spam my SSD.

How I use Google Drive with CloudMounter on my Mac

If you want to go this route, this is roughly the setup:

  1. Install the app from here:
    https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cloudmounter-cloud-manager/id1130254674?mt=12

  2. Open it and add a new connection:

    • Choose Google Drive.
    • Sign in with your Google account.
    • Approve the permissions.

  3. It shows up in Finder:

    • Like a drive or network volume.
    • You can open it, browse folders, rename things, etc.

  4. Use it like any other Finder location:

    • Save from apps directly into that mounted drive.
    • Drag files in and out.
    • Work with multiple accounts (personal, work, client) without swapping users in a browser.

Everything feels local, but your disk isn’t being devoured by a 300 GB sync folder.

Why I stuck with this instead of the official app

A few reasons it ended up replacing the default Google Drive for me:

  • One app handles Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc., instead of five separate menu bar icons.
  • No giant sync folder silently eating SSD space.
  • I can mount/unmount accounts instead of leaving everything connected 24/7.
  • Finder integration is simple and predictable.

If you just need “run Google Drive on a Mac” in the most basic way, install Google’s official Drive for desktop and you’re done.

If you want something that feels more like “plugging in a cloud disk” into Finder without syncing everything, then using Google Drive through a tool like
CloudMounter has been a much calmer long‑term setup for me.

9 Likes
3

I’d say you’re running into two separate things: weird sync behavior and unclear choices from Google’s setup. You’re not alone; Drive on macOS is… finicky.

@​mikeappsreviewer covered CloudMounter really well, and I actually agree with most of that, but I wouldn’t jump straight to replacing Google’s own app unless you’ve tried a couple of tweaks first.

Here’s how I’d attack this:

1. Decide what you actually need from Drive

Before messing with settings, ask:

  • Do you need offline access to everything or just a few folders?
  • Do you care about saving directly from apps into a Drive “folder” in Finder?
  • Do you use multiple Google accounts (work + personal)?

Your answers change what’s “best.” For some folks, the browser is enough; for others, it’s a nightmare.

2. If you stick with Google Drive for desktop

Most sync issues I see on Macs come from a messy install or old leftovers.

A. Clean up the install

  1. Quit Google Drive from the menu bar.
  2. In Finder, go to:
    • ~/Library/Application Support/Google/DriveFS
    • ~/Library/CloudStorage
      and look for Google Drive related folders. Don’t delete blindly, but if you just reinstalled and nothing is critical, you can remove those to reset things.
  3. Reinstall Drive from Google’s official page, then reboot.
    Yeah, old school, but it actually fixes a lot of “wtf is it doing” issues.

B. Use “Stream files” unless you really know you need mirroring

Mirroring sounds nice, but on a laptop it can cause:

  • Disk space going poof
  • Spotlight indexing loops
  • Sync conflicts when you sleep/wake the Mac constantly

Streaming keeps your files in the cloud and only pulls them when needed. Then you can right click specific folders and make them “Available offline” instead of mirroring the whole universe.

C. Watch out for multi account chaos

If you have work + personal Google accounts:

  • Keep only the one you truly need in Drive for desktop.
  • Use the browser for the secondary one.

The “two drives mounted” thing looks neat but often causes confusion and more sync noise than it’s worth.

3. When the browser-only approach makes sense

Using drive.google.com only is underrated if:

  • You mostly upload / download occasional files
  • You don’t care about offline
  • You’re mainly working with Google Docs/Sheets (which basically live best in the browser anyway)

Where people get frustrated is trying to treat browser-only like a full Finder integration. It’s not that. It’s just a glorified web folder. For light use, it’s actually simpler than dealing with weird macOS extensions and sync logs.

4. Where CloudMounter fits in (and why I partly disagree with ditching Google’s app)

CloudMounter is great if:

  • You have multiple cloud services (Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.)
  • You want them to behave like mounted network drives
  • You don’t want your SSD eaten alive by sync folders

The part I disagree with slightly from @​mikeappsreviewer is replacing Google Drive for everyone. If you:

  • Need proper offline editing of big folders
  • Rely on Google’s own “offline Docs” features
  • Want Drive’s automatic “recent files” handling on your Mac

then Google’s own Drive app can still be the better fit once it’s set up cleanly.

That said, if your priority is stability and treating Google Drive like an external cloud disk, CloudMounter is honestly calmer. It avoids a ton of background sync weirdness because it does not try to be clever. Open file, it loads. Close it, done. No giant resyncs, no “I’m indexing 24,000 items again for fun.”

5. Concrete suggestion based on your confusion level

Given you said the settings are confusing and you’re not sure it’s installed right:

  1. Do a clean reinstall of Google Drive for desktop.
  2. Set it to “Stream files.”
  3. Mark only a few key folders as available offline.
  4. Use that for a week and see:
    • Are files syncing reliably?
    • Is your fan not screaming?
    • Are you clear on where your Drive lives in Finder (Locations > Google Drive)?

If it’s still flaky or just feels overcomplicated, then I’d seriously look at CloudMounter and treat Drive like a mounted network disk instead of a constant background sync demon.

In short:

  • Light use: browser only.
  • Daily use, offline needed: cleaned up Google Drive for desktop with “Stream files.”
  • Multiple clouds / hate sync drama: CloudMounter as your main interface, Drive’s own app uninstalled.
4

Short versoin: there’s no “one right way,” but there is a way to stop Drive from being weird all the time.

You already got solid stuff from @mikeappsreviewer and @suenodelbosque, so I’ll skip repeating the same steps and throw in a slightly different angle:

1. First, figure out what’s actually breaking

Before reinstalling everything 10 times, check these 3 basic things in your current setup:

  • In the menu bar Drive icon:
    • Is it stuck on “Syncing X items” forever?
    • Or “Can’t sync files” with a list?
  • In Finder:
    • Is your Drive under Locations or under ~/Library/CloudStorage?
    • Do filenames have little cloud/checkmark icons, or nothing at all?
  • On disk:
    • Open About This Mac > Storage. Did Drive suddenly eat 100+ GB?

Those three answers tell you if your problem is:

  • Corrupted DriveFS data
  • Wrong sync mode
  • Or just expectations vs how “Stream files” actually behaves

2. One thing I disagree with slightly

Both replies lean toward:

  • “Stream files” as the default
  • Or bailing out to browser / CloudMounter quickly

I’m going to be the annoying contrarian and say: if you work daily in the same few folders, “Mirror” for only those can actually be less buggy.

What I’ve seen on a few Macs:

  • Stream + tons of small edits in big project folders = more sync drama
  • Mirror for a single “Work” folder = boring, predictable, local behavior

Trick is:

  • In Drive settings, still choose “Stream files” globally
  • Then in Finder, right click just the key folder and set it to “Available offline”
  • Don’t mirror your entire Drive, mirror like 5 to 10 GB of truly active stuff

So you sort of mix both worlds without flipping the main mode to full mirror.

3. When I’d ditch Google’s desktop app entirely

Times I’ve told people to just stop using Google’s own app:

  • You juggle 3+ cloud services (Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, maybe S3)
  • Your Mac has a small SSD, under ~512 GB, and your cloud data is massive
  • You don’t actually need full offline for huge chunks of files
  • You keep running into random DriveFS disk usage and reindexing

In those cases a tool like CloudMounter is honestly saner:

  • It mounts Google Drive as a network disk in Finder
  • Nothing is auto-synced unless you open it
  • Your SSD doesn’t get bloated with some mystery cache
  • And it handles multiple clouds in one place

So instead of asking “desktop app vs browser,” the real choice becomes:

  • Browser for casual, occasional stuff
  • Google Drive for desktop if you really want offline sync + Google Docs offline
  • CloudMounter if you want Drive to behave like an external cloud disk and stay out of your way

Personally, my setup now:

  • Drive in browser for Docs/Sheets, quick shares
  • CloudMounter for actually working with non‑Google files on Drive like they’re on a disk
  • Google’s own Drive app disabled, because I’m done chasing its quirks

4. Concrete plan you can try

If you want something structured without going in circles:

  1. Right now:

    • Open Drive’s menu bar icon
    • Pause sync
    • Note if it’s in Stream or Mirror mode

  2. Decide your main use-case:

    • Mostly Google Docs, no huge files: browser + optional Drive desktop in “Stream”
    • Big files, multiple clouds, care about disk space: uninstall Drive desktop, use CloudMounter as your main “Finder bridge”

  3. If you keep Drive desktop:

    • Set global mode to “Stream files”
    • Only make your top 2–3 folders available offline
    • Ignore the rest and access them online only

  4. If you go CloudMounter instead:

    • Turn off or uninstall Google Drive for desktop so you don’t have double-mount confusion
    • Mount Google Drive via CloudMounter
    • Start by using just one main Drive account there so you don’t get lost in multiple volumes

Bottom line: your sync issues are probably less about a broken install and more about a mismatched setup. Tighten it to:

  • Few offline folders if you stick with Google’s app
  • Or treat it like a mounted cloud disk via something like CloudMounter and stop fighting sync entirely.