GUIDE TO

GOOGLE DRIVE
BACKUP

SYSCLOUD
Do businesses need Google Drive Backup?

Yes! Did you know that Google Drive is vulnerable to data loss
incidents?

For instance, a single malware attack can rob all your organization’s
data leading to drastic consequences. This could even be the end of
your business.

Isn’t it quite scary?

With more data comes more responsibility!

Here we present all the possible ways to protect your Google Drive data
from unforeseen situations.

Version 1.0, updated on July 27, 2018

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018

Contents

Introduction to Google Drive .................................................................... 1

Google Drive is not 100% fail proof.......................................................... 2
Google Drive is vulnerable to human error and malicious activity ........ 3
Google Drive is vulnerable to malware attacks ..................................... 3
How to have Google Drive Backup? ......................................................... 5
Manual Backup ..................................................................................... 5
Google Drive Backup Using Google Takeout......................................... 7
Google Drive Backup Using Google Vault ........................................... 10
Google Drive Backup Using SysCloud ................................................. 14
Can you get away without having a Google Drive Backup? .................... 19
If an employee deletes a file by mistake ............................................. 19
What if the employee empties the trash? ............................................ 19
If a file is deleted from Team Drive ..................................................... 22
If the lost file is inside a folder created by someone else ................... 25
Using Drive as a Backup Solution .......................................................... 25
How to Protect your files on your Computer? ..................................... 25
How to Protect files on Smartphones? ............................................... 35
Conclusion ............................................................................................. 41

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018

Introduction to Google Drive

Google Drive was introduced to both personal and business users in the
year 2012 to help them store data on the Cloud. The number of Google
Drive users have steadily grown from 120 million in 2013 to 1 billion in
2017.

By 2014, 58 % of fortune 500 companies were already using Google

Drive.

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 1

The data stored in Google Drive could include sales pitches, product
designs, intellectual property, financial statement, purchase orders, and
as such.

Can you trust Google to store such priceless data?

Unquestionably yes!

With 1 billion users storing more than 10 exabytes of data (an exabyte
is 1 million terabyte) on Google Drive, it’s remarkable that they provide
99.9 % data availability to its users with no scheduled downtime.

Google replicates and distributes all your data across its various data
centers. These data centers are located in various parts of the world.
Hence, even during a natural calamity, your data will be accessible.

Google Drive is not 100% fail proof

Google’s trusted security measures may trick you into believing that
your organization’s data is absolutely safe.

BUT, there are serious pitfalls that an organization might overlook,

resulting in unforeseen data loss that might not even be due to Google’s
fault.

Let’s look at a few scenarios where Google Drive’s data could be

compromised.

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 2

Google Drive is vulnerable to human error and malicious activity

Carelessness or malicious intentions of employees can lead to the loss

of valuable data on your Google Drive.

Do you know 75% of ALL data loss is due to human error?

Here are a few scenarios to consider.

● An employee accidentally emptied the Drive trash that has an

important file. There is no way the employee can recover the file
without administrator assistance.
● The IT administrator accidently deleted a Google account. All the
data associated with that account is lost forever.
● An employee carelessly deleted an important file from his
computer which is in sync with Google Drive. The file will be
automatically deleted from Drive as well.
● Someone has gained access to your Google Drive and deleted a
folder that is in sync with your local computer. You will never be
able to recover the folder.

Google Drive is vulnerable to malware attacks

You thought only on-premise devices get attacked by malware?

No, Google Drive is also not spared.

Wondering how?

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 3

Google has an amazing feature called Sync which syncs cloud data
across devices. This sync feature exposes online Google Applications
to malware attacks like ransomware.

Imagine, a ransomware encrypted the files in a Google Sync enabled

device. Google dutifully syncs the infected files to Google Drive and to
all other devices which are in sync with it.

This can be a bigger disaster if any of the infected file is in your Team
Drive.

To add fuel to the fire,

Google does not take responsibility for any of your data loss!

Doubtful?

This is what Google says in its terms of service

“we don’t make any commitments about the content within the Services.

When permitted by law, Google, and Google’s suppliers and distributors,

will not be responsible for lost profits, revenues, or data, financial losses
or indirect, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages.”

Feeling helpless?

Having a backup of Google Drive will ensure that your organization’s

data is still accessible to you in the event of accidental data loss or
malware attacks.

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 4

 Read the article where it was first published!

Click Here

How to have Google Drive Backup?

Let’s explore the possible options to have Google Drive backup to

protect your files.

Manual Backup

Manually downloading the drive files is the easiest way of having

Google Drive backup.

How?

● Login to your Google Drive.

● Select all of your files using the shortcut “ctrl + A” (Hold the control
key on your keyboard and press A).

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 5

Note: You can also download selected files for your Backup.

● Right click and choose Download.

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 6

Note: The time taken to download the files will depend on the amount
of data in your Drive.

The downloaded files will be in a ZIP format which can be extracted and
viewed.

The “Shared with me folder” can also be downloaded manually in the

same way.

Note: This option is applicable to both your personal and organizational

needs.

LIMITATIONS:

1. You will have to download the Drive files at regular intervals to

keep the backup up-to-date.
2. You will have to delete older backups regularly to save your
computer’s or backup device’s storage space.

Google Drive Backup Using Google Takeout

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 7

You can also have Google Drive Backup by exporting the data using
Google’s web application, Google Takeout.

What is Google Takeout? Read here.

How to use Google Takeout?

● Login to Google Takeout using your Google credentials.

● Choose Drive from the list of all Google products listed.

● Click on “NEXT > CREATE ARCHIVE”.

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 8

Note: The time taken will depend on the amount of data stored in the
Drive.

Once it’s completed, click on the “DOWNLOAD” option to download your

data as a ZIP file.

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Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 9

Store the copy in a safe location for future access.

LIMITATIONS:

1. Google Takeout will not let you download the files created by
someone else.
2. The folders located in ‘shared with me’ cannot be exported using
Google Takeout, even if the folder has files created by you.

Google Drive Backup Using Google Vault

What is Google Vault?

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Google Vault is an archiving tool that retains user data stored in Mail
and Drive regardless of end users’ actions including permanent
deletions.

Note: Google Vault is only available for users who have subscribed to
G Suite Business or Enterprise plan.

Though Google Vault is not a backup solution, it can be used to export

your Drive files in a limited way for backup needs.

To know more about the differences between Backup and Archive

solutions, read this.

How to use Google Vault?

To export your files, set a retention rule for your Google Drive in Google
Vault. To know how, click here.

Once the retention rule is set, you can search and download the lost
files even if it is permanently deleted from your Drive.

Note: Only administrators can manage this process of data recovery in

Google Vault.

Searching for a File in Google Vault

Login to Google Vault using your admin credentials.

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 11

Create a new matter or click on an existing matter.

Click on the search module on the left pane, choose Drive as the type
of application and provide the email address of the user who has lost
the file.

Note: You can also filter the files based on date range and advanced
terms.

Click on “Search” button to list all the files with the specified search
conditions.

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 12

Downloading the files

To export all the files, click on “Export results”.

To download a specific file, open the file, click on the more options icon
(ellipsis icon) on the top right corner and click “Download”.

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Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 13

LIMITATIONS:

1. You will need administrator’s assistance to restore a file from

Google Vault.
2. The exported files can only be manually imported back to Drive.
There is no direct restore option available.
3. Sharing settings and folder structure cannot be restored easily.
4. Google Vault cannot be used to restore files that are lost due to
account deletions.

Google Drive Backup Using SysCloud

SysCloud offers a complete Google Drive backup solution that does not
have any of the drawbacks associated with using in-built features and
native tools.

Some of the features exclusive to third party applications like SysCloud

are:

● Restore Drive files even if the user account is permanently

deleted.

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 14

 ● Directly restore a single file, a complete folder or your entire Drive
back to its actual destination.
● Restore a file(s) with all its sharing settings and folder structure
intact.
● Provide self-service restore for end users resulting in faster data
recovery and reduced load on IT administrators.
● Restore files to another user’s account.
● Audit all activities performed within the application and generate
reports.

How to use SysCloud’s Backup Application?

Once logged in as an administrator, you will see the homepage of

SysCloud Suite of applications.

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Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 15

Navigate to the Backup module and choose “Archive & Restore”.

All the users (including the deleted users) and their backup status will
be listed here.

Click on the user whose data has to be recovered. All the backed-up
data associated with this particular user will be shown.

Navigate to the section “Drive”.

(This space has been intentionally left blank)

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 16

Note: This list includes files which are owned and shared with the user.

How to restore Google Drive backup?

Use the search bar to find a lost file.

Restore it back to its destination with all its sharing settings and folder
structure by clicking on, “Restore> Selected Items”.

You can also restore an entire Drive or specific folders.

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Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 17

 Be proactive!

Enable SysCloud Backup application

for an automated backup of your
Google Drive Data.

Get 1 TB Free Backup

----------------Trusted by -------------

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 18

Can you get away without having a Google Drive Backup?

Google has limited options to recover lost files without having Google
Drive backup. Let’s explore the native data recovery options available in
Google.

If an employee deletes a file by mistake

If an employee accidentally deletes a file from Drive, it can be restored

from the trash as long as the trash is not emptied.

Caution: If you delete a file which was shared with you, it will not be
available in your trash to restore. You will have to ask the owner to
reshare the file.

What if the employee empties the trash?

If it is a personal Google account, there is no way you can restore the

deleted file.

If the Google account is for business use, the IT administrator can

restore the data.

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 19

If you are an IT administrator, you can restore permanently deleted data
of a user from the admin console.

How?

Log in to G Suite admin console and click on “Users”.

Navigate to the user whose data needs to be restored.

Click on more options icon (ellipsis icon) and choose “RESTORE DATA”.

(This space has been intentionally left blank)

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 20

Choose a probable date range during which the file was lost.

Choose the application as “Drive”.

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 21

Click on “RESTORE”.

LIMITATIONS:

1. Files that were permanently deleted before 25 days cannot be

restored.
2. This feature does not let you select the files that need to be restored.
It automatically restores everything that got deleted during the
specified date range leading to cluttering of your Drive and
consumption of storage space.
3. This does not restore the file or folder share settings.

If a file is deleted from Team Drive

In a Team Drive, any member with full access, can create, edit, and
delete files.

New to Team Drive? Click here.

Let's assume a dissatisfied team member deletes a file permanently. In

this scenario, IT administrator can restore the data.

How?

Log in to G Suite admin console and Navigate to “Apps > G Suite > Drive
and Docs”.

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 22

Click on “Manage Team Drives”.

Navigate to the Team Drive where the file got deleted and click on the
“Restore” icon.

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 23

Choose a probable date range during which the file was deleted and
click on “RESTORE DATA”.

The deleted file will be restored to the selected Team Drive.

LIMITATIONS:

1. Files that were deleted before 25 days cannot be restored by the

administrator.
2. Team Drive is available only for G Suite users who have subscribed
to Business/Enterprise/Education plans.
2. Unlike Drive, where the deleted files stay in the trash forever, in Team
Drive, the deleted files stay in trash only for 30 days.
3. This feature does not let you select the file that needs to be restored.
It restores everything that got deleted during the selected date range.
This will lead to cluttering of the Drive and consumption of storage
space.

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 24

If the lost file is inside a folder created by someone else

If a shared folder gets deleted, the files that you created inside this
shared folder is no longer listed in the Drive folders.

To find such files, you can use an advanced search option as explained
here.

Limitation: This advanced search option does not let you view the
missing file, if you didn’t create it.

Note: The folder structure and sharing permissions will not be restored.

Using Drive as a Backup Solution

Data stored in electronic devices like smartphones, hard drives, and

laptops are vulnerable because these devices are subject to
malfunction, accidents, and thefts.

You can protect your data by copying it to Google Drive which is safer
than the physical storage devices.

How to Protect your files on your Computer?

You can protect your files on your desktop by creating a copy of them
in Google Drive. This saves your data in the event of hardware failure
and device thefts.

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 25

Take Backup manually

How?

Sign in to your Google account and navigate to Google Drive.

Create a folder (Right click > New folder).

Create subfolders as needed and move your important files into them.

Remember: Keep this folder in your Drive updated.

Do not wait for tomorrow; tomorrow never comes!

Does Google Drive backup automatically?

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 26

Yes, by using Google Backup and Sync application.

How to use Google Backup and Sync

All you have to do is download Google Backup and Sync application on

your desktop. Choose any folder and all its files will automatically be
copied to your Google Drive.

Supposedly, you can backup your entire computer or device to Google

Drive.

Note: Google Backup & Sync can also copy the Drive files to your
Computer.:

1. Download and install Google Backup & Sync.

2. Launch Google Backup & Sync on your desktop.

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 27

3. Enter your Google credentials.

3. Choose the folders on your desktop that needs to be backed up to

the Drive. Google Backup and Sync would show 3 folders
(Desktop, Documents and Pictures) by default to be backed up.

4. Choose other relevant folders from your computer by clicking on

“CHOOSE FOLDER” option.

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Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 28

Pro-tip: Upload your photos directly to Google Photos to make use of
the free unlimited storage. Photos uploaded to Drive will consume
storage space.

5. Google Backup and Sync can also copy your Drive files to your
desktop, thus providing a two way backup process.

5. You can either choose to copy all the files from the Drive to your
desktop or choose a specific folder to be copied.

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 29

 6. Clicking on Start will take you to a folder created to store Drive
files.

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 30

Google Backup and Sync will also create a shortcut on your desktop to
access the Drive Files.

Once the application is installed, it will start copying files from the
chosen folders to your Drive and vice versa.

7. To check the status of the copying and syncing process, click on

Google Backup and Sync icon on the right corner of the taskbar.

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Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 31

8. Wait for the copying process to be completed.

9. Once it is set up, all the files you create and modify on the selected
folders will also be available on your Google Drive.

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 32

To view those files, navigate to your “Google Drive > Computers > My
Computer”.

10. Similarly, you can access your Drive files on your Computer.

CAUTION: 1. Deleting a file on your computer will automatically remove

the file from your Google Drive and vice versa. This can be changed in
Google Backup and Sync settings.

Click on the “Google Backup and Sync icon on the taskbar > More
Options Menu (Ellipsis icon) > Preferences > My Computer”.

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 33

Under the section “Removing items”, choose among the 3 options,

2. Google Backup and Sync backs up only the Drive files that are owned
by you and not the Drive files that are shared with you. If you want to
copy the shared files, you will have to manually download them to your
computer.

Google Backup and Sync is highly beneficial to small businesses as this

is a simple tool to copy their important files to the cloud.

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Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 34

How to Protect files on Smartphones?

With more and more companies modifying their workplace policy to

include BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), a lot of business-critical
information gets stored in employee’s mobile devices.

Hence, it is crucial to backup your data stored on your smartphone.

We all sign in with our Google account when we set up a new Android
smartphone. This account can automatically backup your data.

How?

1. Launch “Settings” and navigate to “Additional settings > Backup &

Reset ”.

Note: This is tested using the smartphone Redmi 4. The Navigation will
vary based on the android version and the smartphone.

2. By default, the feature “Backup my data” is ON.

This backs up only the following data,

● Call history
● Device settings (Wi-Fi passwords, wallpaper, default apps)
● App data (Mostly Google Apps data)

To view your smartphone’s backup in your Google Drive, click on

“Backups”.

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 35

As you can see, this is not a complete backup solution because data
like contacts, photos and third-party applications are not backed up.

How to secure your Contacts?

You can backup contacts to Google by saving it to your Google account.

Sign in with your Google account in your new mobile. Save your
contacts with Google account by choosing “Save to Google”.

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 36

Keep in mind: Ensure that the sync feature is enabled to ensure data is
consistent across the devices you use. You can enable this by
launching Settings and navigating to “Sync > Google > (Your google
account) > Turn on the service (Contacts)”.

How to secure your Photos?

With Google Photos backup, you can copy all your photos on your
smartphone to Google Photos application.

How?

You will have to manually enable this feature by launching the

application Google Photos and navigating to “Settings > Backup & Sync
> Turn on Backup & Sync”.

Once this setting is ON, all your photos will be available on your Google
account and can be accessed here.

Things to keep in mind

● Photos on your smartphone will be in sync with Google Photos. If

you delete a photo on your smartphone, it will also be deleted from
Google Photos.

● These photos do not consume your Drive storage as long as they

are stored in high quality (16 MP). Storing photos in their original
quality will eat up your drive storage. You can change this setting
by navigating to “Google Photos > Settings > Backup & sync >
Upload size”.

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 37

 ● Only your camera folder is backed up. If you want to backup
photos used in other apps like WhatsApp, Instagram, etc. enable
backup for these apps by navigating to “Google Photos > Settings
> Backup & sync > Backup device folders”.

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Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 38

How to Backup third party applications?

Some applications have their own backup options. For example,

WhatsApp backup can be done by navigating to “Settings> Chats > Chat
backup > BACK UP”.

Note: The time taken to backup your WhatsApp data will depend on the
amount of data

Where to find WhatsApp backup in Google Drive?

To view your WhatsApp backup in your Drive, click on “Backups”.

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Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 39

 Do you know?

Google does not take responsibility

for Data loss due to human error.

Get 1 TB Free Backup

Restoring lost data can be as

easy as pie!

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 40

Conclusion

The advent of Cloud storage has made us inescapable from giving our
business data to the cloud. As more and more companies prefer Google
Drive over physical storage for cost reduction and IT efficiency, it is also
imperative to protect your data from cloud security threats.

There is no guarantee that your data will be available in the next 5

minutes!

Being PROACTIVE helps.

Having a backup of your Google Drive using third party applications like
SysCloud provides complete protection to your business and its data.

For more information, please contact us at

[email protected]
Or Visit us at

www.syscloud.com

Google Drive Backup – The Complete Guide for IT Administrators 2018 41