The mystery of the disappearing Google Drive files
www.theregister.com
The horror of logging in only to find everything since May has vanished

UPDATED Google Drive users are reporting files mysteriously disappearing from the service, with some netizens on the goliath’s support forums claiming six or more months of work have unceremoniously vanished.

The issue has been rumbling for a few days, with one user logging into Google Drive and finding things as they were in May 2023.

  • Burn_The_Right@lemmy.worldEnglish
    18·
    1 year ago

    I switched to Sync because Google Drive reports that all my files are synced when they are not. There is no way to correct it or force Drive to upload the missing files and there’s no way to know when it is lying. I had to constantly check manually, which was a pain in the ass. They lied constantly.

    Sync.com has been excellent. They are cheaper, easier to use and do everything Google Drive did, including sharing folders for uploads and downloads with non-subscribers (which even Dropbox can’t do). Oh, and they don’t fucking lie. Fuck Google.

  • grimacefry@aussie.zoneEnglish
    13·
    1 year ago

    I’ve used MEGA for about 6 years now, previously Dropbox. I switched after Dropbox lost over 2TB of my data.

    MEGA hasn’t lost my data but something glitched on their side and duplicated every file, and with the amount of data I had in there it wasn’t feasible to manually fix. So I had to delete everything and start again.

    I have all my cloud data stored on a NAS at home, that is backed up to a second NAS decice, a MEGA sync client running on home server keeps it all in sync to the cloud. I selectively sync folders from MEGA on different devices, or access files directly from the MEGA app when remote, or work with the local copy of my data when connected to home LAN. At least MEGA works cross platform, and MEGAcmd for Linux allows easy scripting and other automation possibilities.

    All commercial cloud storage has one major problem, your files are hostage to their increasing subscription fees (which will always increase because capitalism). e.g. I was paying $60 a year with Dropbox, if I were still using it, it would be $140 a year now - and I’d have no choice but to keep paying.

      • CmdrShepard@lemmy.oneEnglish
        9·
        1 year ago

        I mean the OP is talking about the same thing happening with Google so what makes it so hard to believe?

      • Burn_The_Right@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        1 year ago

        It’s not hard to believe. My experience with Dropbox was fucking terrible. The company engages in bait and switch sales tactics, so there is really no reason to trust the technical portion of their service to be reliable.

      • grimacefry@aussie.zoneEnglish
        3·
        1 year ago

        This was in 2016. I accepted an invite to join a Dropbox Business account from my employer. This was linked to my personal account. It was early days for this at Dropbox, and there was a bug. When the accounts got linked it completely wiped my personal account.

  • Radioactive Radio@lemm.eeEnglish
    12·
    1 year ago

    Imagine losing your beloved dog’s last photos just cuz you decided to back them up onto someone else’s computer.

  • FiveMacs@lemmy.caEnglish
    71·
    1 year ago

    Perfect example of why letting some company that doesn’t give two shits about you, hold your important documents or whatever is a stupid idea…cloud storage is inherently bad and no company can be trusted more then storing your own data at home on a secure drive or two.

    • kpw@kbin.social
      10·
      1 year ago

      I don’t use any any Google services for good reasons, but I wouldn’t trust myself more not to lose my data than Google.

    • designatedhacker@lemm.eeEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      You need an encrypted cloud copy. 3-2-1 backup with duply to wasabi (AWS bucket-like). Otherwise you’re hosed if you have a fire/tornado/theft/etc.

  • Otter@lemmy.caEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    What do people use to have backups of their google drive content?

        • Neato@kbin.social
          3·
          1 year ago

          Accessible from anywhere and any device. Non-local backups in case of a fire at your house and such.

      • Otter@lemmy.caEnglish
        0·
        1 year ago

        Do you have it plugged in all the time or do you periodically do a full transfer?

        • Extras@lemmy.todayEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          I do weekly backups. However, if I modify or add something really important I create a backup right at that time