How to Access Google Drive in Ubuntu 16.04 LTS

Google Drive in Ubuntu desktop can accessed either by nautilus or overGrive. OverGrive is a Linux based Google drive desktop client through which we can mount or access our Google drive on our Ubuntu desktop.

OverGrive is a commercial software and its license cost is around $ 4.99 , though we can use this tool for 14 days on trail version.

Accessing Google drive via nautilus is absolutely free. In Ubuntu 16.04 nautilus-3.18 is included which has the ability to integrate Google and other online accounts.

In this article we will demonstrate how to access Google drive using nautilus and overgrive tool in Ubuntu 16.04.

Following are the steps to access Google Drive using nautilus.

Step:1 Install ‘Gnome Online Account’ package

Open the terminal and run following apt command.

linuxtechi@cloudera:~$ sudo apt install gnome-online-accounts

Step:2 Access and Configure Online Account

Execute the following command from the terminal

linuxtechi@cloudera:~$ gnome-control-center online-accounts

Select Google account

Nautilus-add-google-account

Specify the Google account credentials.

google-credenatils-nautilus-ubuntu-16

Click on Allow to authorize Ubuntu nautilus to access your Google account.

allow-nautilus-access-google-account

nautilus-google-acccount-ubuntu-16

Step:3 Now Access Google drive using nautilus.

google-drive-contents-using-nautilus

Following are the steps to access Google drive using overGrive.

Step:1 Download overGrive Debian package.

Overgrive package is not listed in Ubuntu 16.04 repositories. So we will download its package from its official site https://www.thefanclub.co.za/overgrive

Download-overGrive -Desktop-Client

We can also use beneath command to download overgrive Debian package from command line.

linuxtechi@cloudera:~$ wget https://www.thefanclub.co.za/sites/default/files/public/overgrive/overgrive_3.1.9_all.deb

Step:2 Install overgrive package.

linuxtechi@cloudera:~$ sudo dpkg -i overgrive_3.1.9_all.deb

We will get the dependency error while installing the overgrive package, error is shown below.

dependecy-problems-overgrive-package-ubuntu

To resolve dependency errors execute the following apt command.

linuxtechi@cloudera:~$ sudo apt install -f

Step:3 Access and configure overgrive

access-overgrive-ubuntu-16

Click on overGrive icon

setup-required-overgrive-ubuntu-16

Click on OK to proceed with setup.

connect-account-overgrive-ubuntu-16

Click on ‘Connect account’ to proceed further. A web browser will open, enter your Gmail id credentials.

gmail-id-credentials-for-google-drive

Click on ‘Allow’ option to authorize overGrive to access your Google drive.

allow-overgrive-to-access-gmail

Copy the code as shown in below window and paste it in ‘Account section’ in overgrive window.

google-drive-code-ubuntu-16

Click on ‘Validate’

google-drive-authorization-code-ubuntu-overgrive

click on ‘Start Sync’

click-on-start-google-drive-ubuntu-16

google-drive-data-ubuntu-desktop-16

As we can see that data of Google drive is synced with system local folder ‘Google Drive’. That’s it, hope you like the article.

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6 thoughts on “How to Access Google Drive in Ubuntu 16.04 LTS”

  1. There is also Insync, a very good client but not free.
    I had test in the past overgrive but lot of bug, maybe now it’s more stable.
    Never testing gdrive for gnome but it’s very interesting… but i have bought insync 😉

    Reply
  2. I choosed to use nautilus in combination of gnome online-account.
    Anytime I open “Files” (I mean the ubuntu file system explorer) and browse to the drive folder created by Nautilus, it loads all my drive directories and take a minute to complete.
    How let say Nautilus too cache the drive folder tree?

    thank you,
    lorenzo

    Reply
  3. I did install and set up my Gnome account but doesn’t seem to work very well since only some of my files and folders in Google Drive are shown in Nautilus. I’m not sure what steps I would be missing and am looking for help/suggestions.

    Reply
  4. But why asking for all those rights :
    manage emails, manage contacts, manage calendar…

    the only right needed is manage gDrive !

    Cannot allow all those right for the app.

    Reply

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