How to Run Multiple Instances of Google Drive on Windows to Sync Multiple Accounts

Ads by Google

Working on multiple Google Drive accounts on the browser is very simple. Once can simply use the Google account switcher and work on multiple accounts in parallel. Unfortunately, when using the Windows application for the same, there is no such feature.

multiple Google drive

According to Google Support, once must use application preferences and sign out from the first Google account before using another. But that’s not a solution if you want to sync more than one account and use them in parallel.

Fret not, like always, we’ve got your back. Here’s a method to get it done and run multiple Google Drive instances on the same machine.

Multiple Google Drive Instances

Step 1: Close all instances of Google Drive running on your computer and then download and install this application. After the application is installed, add C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Drive to your Windows Environment Variable. You can refer to this article to see how it’s done.

Step 2: Having done that, open Notepad and copy paste the following line. Don’t forget to replace username@ domain.com with your Google username.

@ECHO OFF
SET USERNAME=username@ domain.com
SET USERPROFILE=%~dp0%USERNAME%
SET USERPROFILE=%~dp0%USERNAME%
MD “%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming”>nul
MD “%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Application Data”>nul
MD “%USERPROFILE%\Application Data”>nul
MD “%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data”>nul
MD “%USERPROFILE%\My Documents”>nul
MD “%USERPROFILE%\Documents”>nul
START googledrivesync

batch file

Ads by Google

Save the file as Account 1.bat to your desktop or another folder where you would like to sync the files. Don’t forget to select All Files as type in Notepad while saving the batch file.

Step 3: Now run the batch file and wait for another instance of Google Drive to Start. The second instance of the application will ask you to sign in to a new account. Proceed normally, just remember to change the sync folder to the new folder that’s created using the batch files in the advanced option.

sign in

advanced settings

Note: Sometimes you might encounter some difficulty while changing the folder. In such a case, copy the exact path of the folder to select the directory.

browse for folders

That’s all, you will now see two instances of Google Drive syncing side by side. Amazing, right? The next time you want to sync files on the secondary account, run the batch file of that particular account. To add every subsequent account, just make a new batch file, run it and configure the application.

Conclusion

As we are not using any third-party application for the trick, this is the best method to sync multiple Google Drive accounts in Windows according to me. However, I think this is one of the very basic feature that should be provided as a built-in feature by Google. What do you think?

Thanks TumaGonx Zakkum for the heads up!

Ads by Google


..and Get a Cool FREE eBook!

Aweber form
  • Chris Pivik

    Great walk-through. This is definitely something Google Drive should offer without any work-arounds.

    That said, I am having issues with the Environmental Variable. Do I name the variable “PATH” as in your linked example, or something else? Sorry, I’m new to adding/editing environmental variables.

    • http://www.techpanache.com/ Ashish Mundhra

      Keep it PATH. and follow exactly the way it’s mentioned.
      Thanks.

  • alx96

    Sorry, didn’t really work for me.
    The files from my one account got mixed up with the files from my other account.
    Google drive apps I run, both logged in under the same user name.

  • http://www.facebook.com/bryan.sullo Bryan Sullo

    You say, “The next time you want to sync files on the secondary account, run the batch file of that particular account.” Does that mean that the files won’t sync automatically, like they will for the primary account?

    • http://www.techpanache.com/ Ashish Mundhra

      File will sync automatically. The batch file will just be used to run the second instance. You can add the batch file to Windows startup if you would like to launch it automatically like the Google Drive account linked to the primary email.

  • Apoorv Misra

    Hi, I’ve got 2 queries. 1. The entry ‘PATH’ does not exist in my user environment variables, how do I add it and what should be the value? 2. What did you mean by “Don’t forget to select All Files as type in Notepad while saving the batch file” in Step 2?

    • http://www.techpanache.com/ Ashish Mundhra

      1. A reference article to Environment Variable is lined in Step 1

      2. By selecting all files I mean that you must make sure the file extension is not TXT which is the default file type of Notpad.

  • marketing.cloudfuze

    Use CloudFuze that simply enhances your multiple Google accounts experience with Google Drive .

    Doanload Free : http://www.cloudfuze.com/access-google-drive-multiple-accounts/

  • http://www.facebook.com/JeanGionet Jean Gionet

    so this script creates another location where Google Drive will sync files? Why doesn’t it use the default location? ie: c:usersGoogle Drive
    I tried this script and it simply creates folders with jargon text. If I run the batch file from a command prompt I keep on seeing syntax errors.

    “The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.”

  • Richard Buentello

    Doesn’t work in Win 8

  • jimaoe

    I can’t get this to work with windows 7. Even after adding the path, It crease some folders but then there is “the filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.” multiple times

  • http://3innor.tumblr.com ЗІИИОЯ

    If you copy the .bat script text you have to remove the “ and replace them by ” characters otherwise you will get errors.

  • Sebastiaan Terpstra

    Another way is to simply combine your Google Drives to access them from one account on all your devices. I’ve written a small tutorial about this at http://goo.gl/N56MF. Check it out!