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Cloud storage integration, Windows Explorer, Google Drive File Stream, usability, human-computer interaction, file system virtualization. 1. Introduction The modern knowledge worker juggles local files, networked drives, and multiple cloud providers. Google Drive, with over 2 billion users, traditionally operated via a sync folder—users saved files to C:\Users\[Name]\Google Drive . However, with increasing file sizes and device storage constraints, Google introduced Drive File Stream (now simply Google Drive for desktop). Its defining feature is presenting Google Drive as a virtual drive (e.g., G:\ ) directly inside Windows Explorer, without fully downloading all files.
Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_LogicalDisk | Where-Object $_.VolumeName -like "*Google Drive*" google drive in windows explorer
Study funded by no external entity; all participants were volunteers. Google Drive, with over 2 billion users, traditionally
When network drops, the virtual drive remains visible in Explorer but double-clicking a non-cached file shows a “File not found” error after 12 seconds. Users mistook this for file corruption. 5. Discussion 5.1 The Explorer Metaphor Breaks Windows Explorer assumes files are either present or absent, with deterministic open times. Google Drive’s “stream on open” violates the locality of reference expectation. Users expect a drive letter to behave like a USB drive or local disk. It does not. Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_LogicalDisk | Where-Object $_
Seamless or Superficial? A Usability and Workflow Integration Analysis of Google Drive’s File Stream in Windows Explorer
