What is Google Drive on Mac?
By Junaid, maker of Taskglass · Last reviewed
Google Drive for desktop, which syncs your Google Drive files with your Mac.
Google Drive for desktop makes your Drive files available in Finder and keeps them in sync. On recent macOS versions it works through Apple's File Provider system, so some of its work may appear under fileproviderd. It's busiest during big uploads or downloads.
- Category
- Third-party
- Made by
- Safe to quit:
- Yes
Shown in Activity Monitor as Google Drive
Why is Google Drive using so much CPU or memory?
- Syncing many or large files
- Initial sync after signing in
- Spotlight indexing your Drive folder
- Photo and video backup
What to do
- 1Check status by clicking the Drive menu bar icon
- 2Pause syncing temporarily if needed
- 3Stream files instead of mirroring them if disk space or CPU is tight
- 4Quit and reopen Google Drive, and keep it updated
Safe to quit? Yes.
Safe to quit; files stop syncing and Drive files may be unavailable in Finder until you reopen it.
Related processes
- fileproviderdConnects Finder with cloud storage like iCloud Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive and Google Drive.
- DropboxDropbox's file sync app; DropboxMacUpdate keeps it updated.
- OneDriveMicrosoft OneDrive, which syncs files and shows sync status in Finder.
- GoogleUpdaterKeeps Chrome and other Google apps up to date in the background.
Part of the Taskglass Process Library