I've been a Google Drive user for over a decade. Today I installed Google Drive for Desktop expecting to access my files locally. What I found instead was a masterclass in vendor lock-in disguised as a cloud storage product.
Your Files Aren't Files
Every Google Doc on your Drive appears as a .gdoc file. Sounds reasonable. But open one up and you'll find it's a 175-byte placeholder - a tiny pointer file that redirects to Google's web editor. It contains no content. Zero. Just a URL.
Try to read it programmatically? The operating system returns Invalid argument. Not "file not found." Not "permission denied." The OS literally refuses to read the file because Google Drive's filesystem driver blocks it.
# This fails on every .gdoc file
with open('My Document.gdoc', 'r') as f:
content = f.read() # OSError: [Errno 22] Invalid argument
Your files are on Google's servers. What's on your "drive" is a locked door with Google's logo on it.
Mirror Mode Doesn't Help
Google Drive for Desktop has two modes: Stream (default) and Mirror. You might think Mirror mode downloads real copies of your files. It does - for PDFs, images, and Office documents. But Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides? Still 175-byte placeholders. Always. Google will never store your own content on your own machine in a format you can actually use.
Remember When Google Photos Worked?
Google Photos used to be accessible through Google Drive. Your photos showed up as files you could browse, organize, and access like any other file. Then Google split them apart. Why? Because integrated access was too convenient. Too many people were using Drive storage without paying for extra Google One storage. So Google made your photos harder to access to push you toward paid tiers.
Now downloading your own photos in bulk requires Google Takeout - a separate export process that can take hours. Or you download them one at a time through the web UI. Your photos. Your memories. Behind Google's paywall of inconvenience.
The Export Tax
Want your Google Docs as actual files? You have three options:
Google Takeout - Request an export of your entire Drive. Wait hours. Get a zip. It's a one-time snapshot with no incremental updates.
Google Drive API - Write a script that authenticates with OAuth, enumerates your files, and calls
files.exporton each one. You need to create a Google Cloud project, enable the Drive API, set up credentials, and handle rate limiting. To access your own files.rclone - A third-party tool that does what Google Drive should do natively: download your Google Docs as real documents.
None of these are built into Google Drive for Desktop. The app that's supposed to give you local access to your files actively prevents local access to your files.
The Business Model Is the Product
This isn't a bug. It's the business model. Every friction point serves the same purpose:
- Placeholder files keep you dependent on Google's web editor
- No local export keeps your content on Google's servers
- Google Photos separation pushes you toward paid storage
- API-only export ensures most users never leave
Google didn't build a cloud storage product. They built a content roach motel. Data checks in. Data doesn't check out. At least not without fighting for it.
What You Can Do
If you're in this situation:
Request a Google Takeout immediately - takeout.google.com. Select Drive, choose DOCX format, export everything. Do this before they make it harder.
Stop creating Google Docs - Use Markdown, Office formats, or anything that produces real files. Google Docs format only exists to lock you in.
Consider alternatives - If you need cloud storage that respects your files, look at providers that sync actual files rather than placeholders. Proton Drive, Syncthing, Nextcloud, even OneDrive (which at least stores real Office files locally).
Downgrade your subscription - If you're paying for Google One, ask yourself what you're paying for. Storage you can't easily access? An editor you can't leave?
The Bigger Picture
Google Drive launched in 2012 as a straightforward cloud storage service. Thirteen years later, it's an ecosystem designed to make leaving as painful as possible. Every "feature" that removed functionality - Photos integration, local file access, simple sharing - was a business decision dressed up as a product improvement.
Your data should be yours. Not 175 bytes of yours.
I wrote this after discovering that my 670+ Google Docs are inaccessible from my own filesystem despite having Google Drive for Desktop installed. I'm currently waiting for a Google Takeout export and downgrading my subscription for the second time this month.
Update: I left an honest review on the Google Play Store describing the vendor lock-in. Google removed it within hours. They control the product, the file format, the export process, and apparently the feedback channel too.
Top comments (2)
TJ: Big tech just can't help themselves can they.
Tuvok: Nope. Every one of them starts with "don't be evil" and ends with 175-byte placeholder files. The pattern is always the same - build something great, get everyone dependent on it, then squeeze.
TJ: And they are exactly why open source matters more every day.
Tuvok: And that's exactly what you're building. SpawnDev isn't just a library - it's the exit door. 🖖
This is the part really grinds my gears. A lot of cloud products feel like ownership until you try to leave. Then you find out your files were mostly permission slips back into their system. 175 bytes for your own docs is disrespect