Enhance Google Drive Functionality To Backup Documents With Insync

Google has recently introduced the enhanced version of Google Docs, known as Google Drive. It enables users to manage their documents across a number of platforms including Windows, Mac, Chrome OS, Android and iOS devices (like iPhone and iPad). While we can all agree that Google Drive is a great service, it is worth pointing out that it currently does not support features such as; offline Google Docs editing, document management for multiple Google accounts, recent change notifications and external hard drive support. This is where Insync can be of assistance.

Insync is a third-party service that extends the functionality of Google Docs (Google Drive). All you have to do is to install the Insync application and use it like Google Drive. The first time you run the Insync app, you will be asked to login and allow access to your Google account. As mentioned earlier, you can manage multiple Google accounts with Insync.

insync

Once access has been allowed, you will have to link your device to Insync. It is worth mentioning here that Insync is a cross-platform application and therefore has versions for various desktop and mobile operating systems, (all supported platforms are listed at the end of this post).

This means that you can link multiple devices with Insync to ensure that your documents on these devices are kept synchronized with Google Docs. This can be particularly useful for ensuring that your hard work on important documents (such as a presentation on a PowerPoint Template) are instantly backed up to the cloud.

Google Drive

You can use the system tray menu of Insync to initiate synchronization of documents, add additional Google accounts (for document management), see recently changed files, check available and used cloud storage space, as well as configure auto-start and proxy setting for the Insync application (via Preferences). Furthermore, the General tab of Insync also enables specifying an external storage device such as an external hard drive, to save your Google Docs files.

Google Drive insync

All edited, saved and removed files from the Insync folder are instantly synchronized with your Google Docs account. Furthermore, you can quickly perform a number of useful actions via the right-click menu. For example, if you click on a document such as a MS PowerPoint presentation, you can open it in GDocs, share it with another Google user and get a short link for it. The developer has also listed another feature known as “Selective Sync” that will soon become available. This feature will enable users to choose specific files that are saved on their device, instead of every file present in their Google Docs account.

It is worth mentioning here that Insyc is currently available for free, however once the beta stage is over, there will be a charge for using it. The developer has not specified if any free support will continue. Nonetheless, any user who frequently requires dealing with documents from multiple Google Docs accounts might find this service worth using. Insync has applications for the following platforms and operating systems:

Windows