Cloud Storage

When Cloud Storage Isn't Enough: Signs You Need a Real Backup
When Cloud Storage Isn't Enough: Signs You Need a Real Backup
Cloud storage handles one category of disaster extremely well: the physical one. Laptop stolen, drive dead, house flooded — your files are fine. What it doesn't handle is everything caused... Read more...
Offline Access: Using Cloud Files With No Signal
Offline Access: Using Cloud Files With No Signal
The moment that teaches everyone this lesson is the same: you open your laptop on a plane, click the folder you need, and find a list of files that aren't... Read more...
How to Use Two Cloud Services Together Without Duplicating Everything
How to Use Two Cloud Services Together Without Duplicating Everything
Most people running two cloud services didn't decide to. One came with the phone, one came with the laptop, one came with a job, and now files exist in both... Read more...
Cloud Storage Privacy: Who Can See Your Files?
Cloud Storage Privacy: Who Can See Your Files?
The honest answer to "can my cloud provider read my files" is: with the standard configuration of every mainstream consumer service, technically yes. That's not a scandal and it's not... Read more...
How to Recover Deleted Files From Cloud Storage
How to Recover Deleted Files From Cloud Storage
A file is gone. Before anything else: stop making changes, and don't empty any trash. Most cloud deletions are recoverable, and the main way people lose the chance is by... Read more...
iCloud Explained: What It Backs Up and What It Doesn't
iCloud Explained: What It Backs Up and What It Doesn't
iCloud is the most misunderstood cloud service, because it isn't one service. It's a bundle of several that share a name and a storage quota, and they behave differently. Some... Read more...
How to Set Up Shared Family Cloud Storage
How to Set Up Shared Family Cloud Storage
The instinct when a household needs cloud storage is to buy one plan and have everyone use the same login. It's simpler, it's cheaper than it looks, and it produces... Read more...
What Happens to Your Cloud Files When You Stop Paying
What Happens to Your Cloud Files When You Stop Paying
Cancelling a cloud subscription, or having a card silently expire, doesn't usually delete your files immediately. It starts a process — and the process is well-defined, largely similar across providers,... Read more...
How to Organize Files in the Cloud vs on Your Computer
How to Organize Files in the Cloud vs on Your Computer
Once you have cloud storage, every file faces a question: does it go in the synced folder, or stay local? Most people answer it inconsistently, which produces the worst outcome... Read more...
Using Cloud Storage on a Slow or Limited Internet Connection
Using Cloud Storage on a Slow or Limited Internet Connection
Cloud storage is designed and tested on fast, unmetered connections. On a rural DSL line, a satellite link, a mobile hotspot, or anything with a data cap, the default configuration... Read more...
How to Share Cloud Files Safely: Links, Permissions, and Expiry
How to Share Cloud Files Safely: Links, Permissions, and Expiry
The default way to share a cloud file is to click share, choose "anyone with the link," and paste it into a message. It works instantly, which is why it's... Read more...
Cloud Storage Costs Compared: What You Get Per Dollar
Cloud Storage Costs Compared: What You Get Per Dollar
Cloud storage pricing looks simple and isn't. The headline number — dollars per month for a given capacity — is the least useful figure in the comparison, because the services... Read more...
Selective Sync and Smart Sync Explained
Selective Sync and Smart Sync Explained
You have 2TB of cloud storage and a laptop with a 256GB drive. Both of these things can be true at the same time, and the feature that makes it... Read more...
How to Move Files Between Cloud Services Without Losing Anything
How to Move Files Between Cloud Services Without Losing Anything
Migrating cloud services looks like a copy operation and isn't. Files move fine. What doesn't move is everything wrapped around them: sharing links other people are using, version history, native... Read more...
How to Free Up Google Account Storage Across Drive, Gmail, and Photos
How to Free Up Google Account Storage Across Drive, Gmail, and Photos
The warning arrives and it's more alarming than it looks: your Google storage is full. It's not just that you can't upload files. Once you're over the limit, Gmail can... Read more...
How to Set Up Google Drive the Right Way From Day One
How to Set Up Google Drive the Right Way From Day One
Google Drive is easy to start using and easy to use badly. The default path — sign in, start dropping files in the browser — produces an account that works... Read more...
Sync vs Backup: Why the Difference Matters More Than You Think
Sync vs Backup: Why the Difference Matters More Than You Think
"Everything's in the cloud, so I'm backed up." This sentence has cost more people more files than any other belief about digital storage, and it's understandable — the cloud does... Read more...
How to Stop Paying for Cloud Storage You Don't Need
How to Stop Paying for Cloud Storage You Don't Need
Cloud storage upgrades happen under pressure. Your phone stops backing up, or an upload fails, and there's a button offering to fix it for a few dollars a month. You... Read more...
How Cloud Storage Actually Works, in Plain English
How Cloud Storage Actually Works, in Plain English
Most cloud storage confusion comes from a missing mental model. People know files "go to the cloud," but not what that means, so the behaviour seems arbitrary — a file... Read more...
Google Drive vs Dropbox vs OneDrive vs iCloud: How to Choose
Google Drive vs Dropbox vs OneDrive vs iCloud: How to Choose
Most comparisons of cloud storage services line up feature tables and let you draw your own conclusion. That doesn't help, because the features overlap almost completely. All four store files,... Read more...