Drive and OneDrive

How to move your files out of Google Drive and OneDrive

Both services let you download everything, but each method has limits that are easy to miss. This guide covers the web download, the desktop apps, Takeout and rclone, and how to check the result.

Updated 5 October 2026 · 5 min read

Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive both let you take your files with you. The catch is in the details: zip files that get split, online-only files that aren't really on your computer, and Google documents that need converting. Here are the routes that work, with the limits each company publishes.

Google Drive: three ways out

From the website

1. Go to drive.google.com.
2. Click a file. To select several, hold Command (Mac) or Ctrl (Windows) and click.
3. Right-click and choose “Download”.

Folders are compressed, and Drive may split a large download into several .zip files. Google documents are converted: from inside a document, “File” → “Download” lets you choose a format, such as “Microsoft Word (.docx)” or “PDF Document (.pdf)”. Google's page also notes that you can't drag a file or folder straight to your desktop, and that blocking third-party cookies in Chrome prevents downloads.

With Google Takeout

For everything at once, Takeout is the official route: you choose Drive, the file type (.zip or .tgz) and the maximum archive size, and Google emails you a link. The archive expires in about 7 days and can be downloaded 5 times. Our Google Takeout step-by-step guide walks through every screen.

With Drive for desktop

Drive for desktop has two modes. With “Stream files” your files stay in the cloud and are available offline only when you open them. With “Mirror files” they are “always stored on your computer and in the cloud”, which is what you want for a full copy. To switch: Drive for desktop → “Settings” → “Preferences” → “Folders from Drive” on the left → under “My Drive syncing options” choose “Mirror files”. Make sure your disk has room for everything first.

OneDrive: the website or the sync app

From the website

1. On the OneDrive website, select files or folders with the check circle. To select everything, use the circle to the left of the header row, or Ctrl + A.
2. In the top bar, select “Download” (or right-click → “Download”). The button appears only when something is selected.
3. If the browser asks, choose “Save” or “Save As”. Several items arrive as one .zip file.

Microsoft's page lists the limits in these words: “250GB file size limit; total number of files limit: 10,000; folder size limit: 10000 files”, and, when you download multiple compressed files such as .zip or .mp4, “10GB per .zip file and 20GB overall”. You can't download directly from the “Shared” view, and OneNote notebooks don't download (the zip contains an error .txt instead).

With the OneDrive app

On Windows, OneDrive's Files On-Demand can leave files online-only. In File Explorer, right-click a file or folder and choose “Always keep on this device” to bring it down to your disk. To download everything: click the cloud icon in the notification area → the gear (“Settings”) → “Sync and back up” → “Advanced settings” → “Download all files”. On a Mac the same “Always keep on this device” option exists.

Copying directly with rclone

If you have a lot of data, rclone can copy from Drive or OneDrive to another service without you handling zip files. rclone has a remote type called drive for Google Drive and onedrive for OneDrive. Our rclone and WebDAV guide covers installing it and adding LifetimeCloud as a remote.

1. Run rclone config, choose n (new remote) and name it, for example gdrive or onedrive.
2. At Storage> type drive or onedrive.
3. For Google Drive, set up your own client ID first (see the note below).
4. When asked “Use web browser to automatically authenticate rclone with remote?”, answer y and log in on the page that opens. For OneDrive, then choose “OneDrive Personal or Business”.
5. Preview: rclone copy gdrive: lifetimecloud:GoogleDrive --dry-run
6. Copy: rclone copy gdrive: lifetimecloud:GoogleDrive --progress (or onedrive: as the source).

Google Docs, Sheets and Slides are exported by rclone; by default as docx, xlsx and pptx. Between two different services rclone downloads and re-uploads, so all the data passes through the computer running it, using its connection twice. Use copy, never sync, for a migration: sync deletes files in the destination.

Check the copy before deleting anything

• Run the same rclone copy again with --dry-run. rclone skips files it considers identical, so it should find little or nothing left to copy. Whatever it lists is missing or different.
• List both sides: rclone lsd gdrive: and rclone lsd lifetimecloud:GoogleDrive for folders, rclone ls for files with sizes.
• With zip files, unzip all parts and compare the file count with the original folder.
• Open a sample of files, including converted Google documents: check that formatting survived.

Where LifetimeCloud fits

LifetimeCloud has no direct import from Google Drive or OneDrive. Once your files are on your computer, you can upload them from the website: “Upload folder”, or drag whole folders onto the page. Their content is encrypted on your device before it leaves, with AES-256-GCM. Folder upload works from a computer, not from a phone. If a file in a synced Drive or OneDrive folder is still online-only, the browser can't read it: make it available offline first.

The WebDAV address is https://lifetimecloud.me/dav/<username>/, with your username and a WebDAV token (not your password) from “Profile” → “Full profile & settings” → “WebDAV / rclone Access” → “+ Enable WebDAV”. It works on the free plan too, within its limits: 1 GB, 50 files, 50 MB per file. For a full Drive or OneDrive you'll need a paid plan, 1 TB or 2 TB with a one-time payment; prices are on the plans page. Moving from Dropbox as well? See moving files out of Dropbox.