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Is there a way to add Google Drive to this sidebar not like a shortcut, but pretty much like how OneDrive is? I know there's a Google Drive link in the favorites, but is there a way to expand this like OneDrive has it expanded? Or is that only for the "OneDrive Windows Integration"?

I don't want to just add a shortcut, I want to have the same functionality. The Windows Explorer tweaking tools I've used don't do this.

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2 Answers 2

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It's a pity that Google Drive haven't implemented this yet as both OneDrive and Dropbox have this configured already for Windows.

By editing and then running the .reg file below you can quickly add the Google Drive shortcut. Ensure you edit the %USERPROFILE% value to point at your Google Drive location in the code snippet below before running, taking care to escape backslashes (i.e. C:\\ not C:\).

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{81539FE6-33C7-4CE7-90C7-1C7B8F2F2D41}]
@="Google Drive"
"System.IsPinnedToNamespaceTree"=dword:00000001
"SortOrderIndex"=dword:00000042

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{81539FE6-33C7-4CE7-90C7-1C7B8F2F2D41}\InProcServer32]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,59,00,53,00,54,00,45,00,4D,00,52,00,4F,00,4F,00,54,00,\
25,00,5C,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6D,00,33,00,32,00,5C,00,73,00,68,\
00,65,00,6C,00,6C,00,33,00,32,00,2E,00,64,00,6C,00,6C,00,00,00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{81539FE6-33C7-4CE7-90C7-1C7B8F2F2D41}\ShellFolder]
"FolderValueFlags"=dword:00000028
"Attributes"=dword:f080004d

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{81539FE6-33C7-4CE7-90C7-1C7B8F2F2D41}]
@="Google Drive"
"System.IsPinnedToNamespaceTree"=dword:00000001
"SortOrderIndex"=dword:00000042

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{81539FE6-33C7-4CE7-90C7-1C7B8F2F2D41}\InProcServer32]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,59,00,53,00,54,00,45,00,4D,00,52,00,4F,00,4F,00,54,00,\
25,00,5C,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6D,00,33,00,32,00,5C,00,73,00,68,\
00,65,00,6C,00,6C,00,33,00,32,00,2E,00,64,00,6C,00,6C,00,00,00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{81539FE6-33C7-4CE7-90C7-1C7B8F2F2D41}\ShellFolder]
"FolderValueFlags"=dword:00000028
"Attributes"=dword:f080004d

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{81539FE6-33C7-4CE7-90C7-1C7B8F2F2D41}\DefaultIcon]
@="C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Google\\Drive\\googledrivesync.exe,0"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{81539FE6-33C7-4CE7-90C7-1C7B8F2F2D41}\Instance]
"CLSID"="{0E5AAE11-A475-4c5b-AB00-C66DE400274E}"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{81539FE6-33C7-4CE7-90C7-1C7B8F2F2D41}\Instance\InitPropertyBag]
"Attributes"=dword:00000011
"TargetFolderPath"="%USERPROFILE%\\Google Drive"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel]
"{81539FE6-33C7-4CE7-90C7-1C7B8F2F2D41}"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{81539FE6-33C7-4CE7-90C7-1C7B8F2F2D41}]
@="Google Drive"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{81539FE6-33C7-4CE7-90C7-1C7B8F2F2D41}\DefaultIcon]
@="C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Google\\Drive\\googledrivesync.exe,0"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{81539FE6-33C7-4CE7-90C7-1C7B8F2F2D41}\Instance]
"CLSID"="{0E5AAE11-A475-4c5b-AB00-C66DE400274E}"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\CLSID\{81539FE6-33C7-4CE7-90C7-1C7B8F2F2D41}\Instance\InitPropertyBag]
"Attributes"=dword:00000011
"TargetFolderPath"="%USERPROFILE%\\Google Drive"

This content is also posted here if you're interested: http://luke.digital/adding-google-drive-to-the-explorer-sidebar/

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  • 1
    Thank you, silly this isn't already done during the install process. One question though, reading through it looks somewhat benign, but I wonder why the two InProcServer32 strings were obfuscated using hex? I converted the hex to %SYSTEMROOT%\system32\shell32.dll. Since this was the same string value that Dropbox used I figured it must be correct, however does it need to be entered like this? Anyway, Thanks again, this has been a big help.
    – hoss
    Commented Jun 19, 2016 at 0:07
  • 1
    I just used this to add Google Drive to my sidebar in Windows 10. The newest sync tool is now Drive File Stream so I set the %USERPROFILE% values to the "My Drive" folder. I also changed the two locations for "DefaultIcon" to point to the GoogleDriveFS.exe install location on my computer so that the icon wouldn't just be a folder.
    – Andrew Jackson
    Commented Nov 27, 2017 at 19:09
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You could add your Google Drive folder to a new library and it would function similar to the OneDrive shortcut, albeit a couple levels down

  1. Right-Click on the Google Drive Folder
  2. Go to Include in library --> Create New Library

enter image description here

You'll now be able to see it under Libraries:

enter image description here

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  • Thanks, that works, but it's obviously not ideal. Is this the best solution available?
    – ElectronicGeek
    Commented Feb 27, 2015 at 18:27
  • Although this is a way of getting Google Drive into the sidebar, it is not on the same level as Dropbpx or OneDrive, as the OP requested. I believe that Svenkle's answer does the job properly.
    – Richard C
    Commented Mar 2, 2016 at 0:08

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