When it comes to the best free cloud storage services, Google Drive is easily one of the top options, and for good reason. It provides more free storage space than many competitors (we're looking at you, OneDrive and iCloud). It's also cross-platform, offering app support on Android, Windows, iOS, and Mac and web access on any compatible browser.
Google Drive generally works fine. But there's one specific problem that users usually complain about: slow upload speeds. If you're unlucky, it can even take hours, not mere minutes, for your files to finish uploading to the cloud.
Slow Google Drive uploads can happen for a number of reasons — maybe it's a problem with your internet, the device you're using to upload to Google Drive, or Google Drive itself. In this guide, we'll walk you through what to do to address each of these concerns and fix your Google Drive upload speed.
Verify that you have a working internet connection
When your Google Drive upload is too slow for your liking, it's a good idea to inspect your internet connection first. Start with power cycling your router. If you never restart your router, it can eventually slow down your entire home network. After doing so, hop on a browser and check how fast your home network's upload speed is via speedtest.net. Anything below 10 Mbps will make your Google Drive upload take longer than expected. In that case, contact your service provider to see whether it's a limitation on your plan or an issue on their end.
If the upload speed is good, see if anyone in your home is also using the upload bandwidth. They don't necessarily need to be uploading files to effect the bandwidth. Being on a video conference, gaming, and live streaming can also compete for the available capacity.
Another simple fix you can do if you're on a computer is to connect to the internet via LAN cable. Wired connection is generally more reliable than Wi-Fi. If you're using your phone to upload on Google Drive, you can try turning on mobile data and disconnecting from your Wi-Fi. Just make sure to toggle off 'Transfer files only over Wi-Fi' in the Google Drive app settings, so you can upload over mobile data.
Check the device you're using to upload
Sometimes, your device plays a part in why your Google Drive upload is slow. When you're starting to notice slower-than-usual upload speeds, cancel the upload and restart your phone/computer first. Reboots surprisingly solve a lot of temporary issues.
From here, check three settings on your phone: VPN, Battery Saver/Low Power Mode, and Data Saver/Low Data Mode. For the VPN, test whether having it on or off effects your Google Drive upload speed. Users have reported mixed results with this fix, with some saying enabling VPN helped increase their speed, while others shared that disabling it worked better. For the Battery Saver and Data Saver, though, they're best left turned off. The Battery Saver (on Android) and Low Power Mode (on iPhone) can limit your network connection, among other things, while the Data Saver (on Android) and Low Data Mode (on iPhone) restrict your mobile data usage, which could affect how fast Google Drive uploads your files. Both options are located in your phone's Settings app.
Other than device settings, take a look at your desktop browser too (for computer users). Update the browser to make sure it's running at optimal performance. Then, clear the cache and cookies. It's a recommended practice to clear your browser cache regularly, so you have a clean slate and prevent your browser from slowing down. You can always switch to a different browser entirely as well. If you're using Chrome, see if you get better speeds on Microsoft Edge or Firefox. On mobile, clearing the Google Drive app cache might also help improve your upload speed. The process is different per manufacturer, but you generally need to go into Settings and find Drive in the Apps section.
Troubleshoot Google Drive
One of the potential reasons why your upload is too slow is due to Google Drive itself. Maybe it's a temporary glitch or Drive is down. To see if that's the case, go to the Google Workspace Status Dashboard and verify that Drive is working as expected. If it isn't, wait a few hours before trying to reupload.
It's also worth reviewing if your storage is already full. Since this space is shared across Google services, you might not realize that your Google Photos or Gmail files have already eaten up a lot of your storage. To check, log into Google Drive and click on Storage on the left side panel. It shouldn't be 100% full. Another thing to check is your daily limit. Google only allows you to upload a maximum of 750GB daily. If you've already done so, any additional file might no longer proceed to upload.
When using the Google Drive app on your phone or computer, it's recommended to restart the app and update it to the latest version. You can update the Drive mobile app from the Play Store or App Store, while the Drive desktop app usually auto-updates as long as you're connected to the internet. If the mobile or desktop app still uploads your files to Google Drive too slowly, try using the web version instead. You should have no trouble accessing it from Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, or Safari. If your Google Drive upload speed is still slow after all these fixes, it's likely just an inherent limitation of the platform. What you can do is upload your files in smaller batches. Maybe group 100 pictures into batches of 20, or limit the files to under 1GB per upload.
BGR
When it comes to the best free cloud storage services, Google Drive is easily one of the top options, and for good reason. It provides more free storage space than many competitors (we're looking at you, OneDrive and iCloud). It's also cross-platform, offering app support on Android, Windows, iOS, and Mac and web access on any compatible browser.
Google Drive generally works fine. But there's one specific problem that users usually complain about: slow upload speeds. If you're unlucky, it can even take hours, not mere minutes, for your files to finish uploading to the cloud.
Slow Google Drive uploads can happen for a number of reasons — maybe it's a problem with your internet, the device you're using to upload to Google Drive, or Google Drive itself. In this guide, we'll walk you through what to do to address each of these concerns and fix your Google Drive upload speed.
Verify that you have a working internet connection
When your Google Drive upload is too slow for your liking, it's a good idea to inspect your internet connection first. Start with power cycling your router. If you never restart your router, it can eventually slow down your entire home network. After doing so, hop on a browser and check how fast your home network's upload speed is via speedtest.net. Anything below 10 Mbps will make your Google Drive upload take longer than expected. In that case, contact your service provider to see whether it's a limitation on your plan or an issue on their end.
If the upload speed is good, see if anyone in your home is also using the upload bandwidth. They don't necessarily need to be uploading files to effect the bandwidth. Being on a video conference, gaming, and live streaming can also compete for the available capacity.
Another simple fix you can do if you're on a computer is to connect to the internet via LAN cable. Wired connection is generally more reliable than Wi-Fi. If you're using your phone to upload on Google Drive, you can try turning on mobile data and disconnecting from your Wi-Fi. Just make sure to toggle off 'Transfer files only over Wi-Fi' in the Google Drive app settings, so you can upload over mobile data.
Check the device you're using to upload
Sometimes, your device plays a part in why your Google Drive upload is slow. When you're starting to notice slower-than-usual upload speeds, cancel the upload and restart your phone/computer first. Reboots surprisingly solve a lot of temporary issues.
From here, check three settings on your phone: VPN, Battery Saver/Low Power Mode, and Data Saver/Low Data Mode. For the VPN, test whether having it on or off effects your Google Drive upload speed. Users have reported mixed results with this fix, with some saying enabling VPN helped increase their speed, while others shared that disabling it worked better. For the Battery Saver and Data Saver, though, they're best left turned off. The Battery Saver (on Android) and Low Power Mode (on iPhone) can limit your network connection, among other things, while the Data Saver (on Android) and Low Data Mode (on iPhone) restrict your mobile data usage, which could affect how fast Google Drive uploads your files. Both options are located in your phone's Settings app.
Other than device settings, take a look at your desktop browser too (for computer users). Update the browser to make sure it's running at optimal performance. Then, clear the cache and cookies. It's a recommended practice to clear your browser cache regularly, so you have a clean slate and prevent your browser from slowing down. You can always switch to a different browser entirely as well. If you're using Chrome, see if you get better speeds on Microsoft Edge or Firefox. On mobile, clearing the Google Drive app cache might also help improve your upload speed. The process is different per manufacturer, but you generally need to go into Settings and find Drive in the Apps section.
Troubleshoot Google Drive
One of the potential reasons why your upload is too slow is due to Google Drive itself. Maybe it's a temporary glitch or Drive is down. To see if that's the case, go to the Google Workspace Status Dashboard and verify that Drive is working as expected. If it isn't, wait a few hours before trying to reupload.
It's also worth reviewing if your storage is already full. Since this space is shared across Google services, you might not realize that your Google Photos or Gmail files have already eaten up a lot of your storage. To check, log into Google Drive and click on Storage on the left side panel. It shouldn't be 100% full. Another thing to check is your daily limit. Google only allows you to upload a maximum of 750GB daily. If you've already done so, any additional file might no longer proceed to upload.
When using the Google Drive app on your phone or computer, it's recommended to restart the app and update it to the latest version. You can update the Drive mobile app from the Play Store or App Store, while the Drive desktop app usually auto-updates as long as you're connected to the internet. If the mobile or desktop app still uploads your files to Google Drive too slowly, try using the web version instead. You should have no trouble accessing it from Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, or Safari. If your Google Drive upload speed is still slow after all these fixes, it's likely just an inherent limitation of the platform. What you can do is upload your files in smaller batches. Maybe group 100 pictures into batches of 20, or limit the files to under 1GB per upload.
BGR
When it comes to the best free cloud storage services, Google Drive is easily one of the top options, and for good reason. It provides more free storage space than many competitors (we're looking at you, OneDrive and iCloud). It's also cross-platform, offering app support on Android, Windows, iOS, and Mac and web access on any compatible browser.
Google Drive generally works fine. But there's one specific problem that users usually complain about: slow upload speeds. If you're unlucky, it can even take hours, not mere minutes, for your files to finish uploading to the cloud.
Slow Google Drive uploads can happen for a number of reasons — maybe it's a problem with your internet, the device you're using to upload to Google Drive, or Google Drive itself. In this guide, we'll walk you through what to do to address each of these concerns and fix your Google Drive upload speed.
Verify that you have a working internet connection
When your Google Drive upload is too slow for your liking, it's a good idea to inspect your internet connection first. Start with power cycling your router. If you never restart your router, it can eventually slow down your entire home network. After doing so, hop on a browser and check how fast your home network's upload speed is via speedtest.net. Anything below 10 Mbps will make your Google Drive upload take longer than expected. In that case, contact your service provider to see whether it's a limitation on your plan or an issue on their end.
If the upload speed is good, see if anyone in your home is also using the upload bandwidth. They don't necessarily need to be uploading files to effect the bandwidth. Being on a video conference, gaming, and live streaming can also compete for the available capacity.
Another simple fix you can do if you're on a computer is to connect to the internet via LAN cable. Wired connection is generally more reliable than Wi-Fi. If you're using your phone to upload on Google Drive, you can try turning on mobile data and disconnecting from your Wi-Fi. Just make sure to toggle off 'Transfer files only over Wi-Fi' in the Google Drive app settings, so you can upload over mobile data.
Check the device you're using to upload
Sometimes, your device plays a part in why your Google Drive upload is slow. When you're starting to notice slower-than-usual upload speeds, cancel the upload and restart your phone/computer first. Reboots surprisingly solve a lot of temporary issues.
From here, check three settings on your phone: VPN, Battery Saver/Low Power Mode, and Data Saver/Low Data Mode. For the VPN, test whether having it on or off effects your Google Drive upload speed. Users have reported mixed results with this fix, with some saying enabling VPN helped increase their speed, while others shared that disabling it worked better. For the Battery Saver and Data Saver, though, they're best left turned off. The Battery Saver (on Android) and Low Power Mode (on iPhone) can limit your network connection, among other things, while the Data Saver (on Android) and Low Data Mode (on iPhone) restrict your mobile data usage, which could affect how fast Google Drive uploads your files. Both options are located in your phone's Settings app.
Other than device settings, take a look at your desktop browser too (for computer users). Update the browser to make sure it's running at optimal performance. Then, clear the cache and cookies. It's a recommended practice to clear your browser cache regularly, so you have a clean slate and prevent your browser from slowing down. You can always switch to a different browser entirely as well. If you're using Chrome, see if you get better speeds on Microsoft Edge or Firefox. On mobile, clearing the Google Drive app cache might also help improve your upload speed. The process is different per manufacturer, but you generally need to go into Settings and find Drive in the Apps section.
Troubleshoot Google Drive
One of the potential reasons why your upload is too slow is due to Google Drive itself. Maybe it's a temporary glitch or Drive is down. To see if that's the case, go to the Google Workspace Status Dashboard and verify that Drive is working as expected. If it isn't, wait a few hours before trying to reupload.
It's also worth reviewing if your storage is already full. Since this space is shared across Google services, you might not realize that your Google Photos or Gmail files have already eaten up a lot of your storage. To check, log into Google Drive and click on Storage on the left side panel. It shouldn't be 100% full. Another thing to check is your daily limit. Google only allows you to upload a maximum of 750GB daily. If you've already done so, any additional file might no longer proceed to upload.
When using the Google Drive app on your phone or computer, it's recommended to restart the app and update it to the latest version. You can update the Drive mobile app from the Play Store or App Store, while the Drive desktop app usually auto-updates as long as you're connected to the internet. If the mobile or desktop app still uploads your files to Google Drive too slowly, try using the web version instead. You should have no trouble accessing it from Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, or Safari. If your Google Drive upload speed is still slow after all these fixes, it's likely just an inherent limitation of the platform. What you can do is upload your files in smaller batches. Maybe group 100 pictures into batches of 20, or limit the files to under 1GB per upload.
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