Google just made it incredibly easy to back up everything on your computer with its new "Backup and Sync" tool for PC and Mac.
Backing up is important — you've heard it a thousand times — but Google's new solution also makes it easier to access your files on the go, or from a new computer in case yours ever bites the dust. It relies on the cloud, so you don't have to worry about buying an external hard drive.
Before we begin, download Google Backup and Sync from Google's website. Now let me show you how to use it.
Tap "Get started" to begin.
Sign in to your Google account.
Choose the folders you want to back up to Google Drive. You can even select the quality of the photos Google will store. Tap Next.
Now you'll see this screen. It'll drop a folder on your computer where you can drag and drop files to automatically upload them to the cloud, letting you access them from anywhere. You probably don't want to sync everything — mine has 86.4GB of data!
That's all there is to it. Now your computer will start backing up to Google Drive. It'll take a while depending on your connection speed and how much you're backing up.
Bonus tip: If you ever run out of space, open the Google Drive application and tap "Upgrade" You'll be able to buy more storage from Google.
100GB of storage is $1.99 a month (or $19.99 a year) and 1TB is $9.99 per month (or $99.99 a year.) It's not the cheapest on the market (Microsoft OneDrive provides more space for less, and Apple charges 99 cents for 50GB; $2.99 for 200GB and $9.99 for 1TB) but it's a great new solution that's a breeze to use.