How do I switch from Google Drive to another provider?
The short answer
Three routes: download everything via Google Takeout (clean, slow, free), use your new provider’s built-in importer (pCloud, Koofr, and others connect directly to your Google account and copy server-to-server), or sync locally and re-upload. Plan for Gmail and Photos separately. Takeout exports them, but they need a destination strategy of their own.
In detail
The mechanics are easier than the procrastination suggests. Google Takeout (takeout.google.com) packages everything (Drive, Photos, Gmail) into downloadable archives. For libraries over 50 GB expect multiple zip files and a patient evening. The elegant alternative skips your home bandwidth entirely. Several providers offer server-side migration. pCloud’s backup-from-Google feature and Koofr’s native Google Drive connection copy files cloud-to-cloud, and dedicated migration services (like rclone for the technical, or Mover-style tools) handle big libraries while you sleep.
The planning questions matter more than the transfer. Google Docs and Sheets export as Office or PDF files. Fine for archives, but live collaborative documents need a new home (most people keep a slim Google account purely for collaboration, which is a legitimate outcome). Photos deserve their own decision. Exports lose Google’s albums-and-faces organization, so pick the new photo home first (iCloud, a folder structure on pCloud, or a service like IDrive backing up the phone directly). Shared files and links break on migration, so warn collaborators.
The destination depends on why you are leaving. For privacy, Proton Drive or Sync.com, encrypted by default. For cost over time, a pCloud or Internxt lifetime plan. For de-Googling without drama, Koofr even lets you keep Google connected during a gradual transition, browsing old and new side by side. Whichever route you take, keep the Google account alive but empty for a few months as a safety net, and only then close the door.