How To Create A Virtual Gmail Drive On Your Desktop

If you need extra storage space to store files, the Gmail Drive utility is your answer. And it's not just for email, either. Here's how to create a virtual Gmail drive, which lets you store files and acts just like a physical drive connected to your local machine.

First download GMail Drive.

Unzip the file and run setup.exe.

You'll have to restart to complete the install.

After the restart, log back into your system and head to My Computer. There you'll see the Gmail Drive.

Double-click on Gmail Drive. Enter your Google username and password. Check auto login so you don't have to sign in each time.

Your Gmail Drive will be empty--just waiting for you to load your files on it.

Just drag and drop files into Gmail Drive. Treat it just as you would a physical drive on your system.

Now wait while the file uploads to your Gmail account. Once it's uploaded, you view the files in the GMail Drive.

When you log into your Gmail account, you'll see the files you've uploaded listed in your inbox--they will look just as if they were messages. The subject head will be GMAILFS. Filter them as you wish or put your documents into folders.

You see? There's no reason to let all your Gmail space go to waste. The Gmail Drive utility is an efficient way to get your data off your local system and into the cloud.

Dario Dulic is a senior contributor at BYTE. Email him at [email protected].