ResearchOS/Wiki

Google Drive

Install Drive for desktop and mark the lab folder Available offline. That keeps only the lab folder on disk without pulling your whole Drive local.

Install Drive for desktop

Download Drive for desktop for Windows or macOS. The browser interface at drive.google.comis not enough. ResearchOS needs the desktop app because that's what creates the local filesystem folder you point ResearchOS at.

Share the lab folder

  1. One member creates an empty folder in their Google Drive (e.g., LabName-ResearchOS).
  2. Right-click the folder → Share. Add lab members by email with Editor access.
  3. Each invited member opens drive.google.com, finds the folder under Shared with me, right-clicks it, and selects Add shortcut to Drive → My Drive. This is what makes the folder show up on disk via Drive for desktop.
  4. On each laptop, confirm in Finder / Explorer that the shared folder is fully downloaded (i.e., no cloud icon next to file names).

Mark the lab folder Available offline (every member, every laptop)

ResearchOS reads directly from disk, so anything still in Stream mode breaks. Most labs don't want the whole Drive switched to Mirror (your unrelated personal files, downloads, photos all get pulled local). Instead, mark just the lab folder as available offline.

  1. Open the lab folder in Finder (macOS) or Explorer (Windows). It shows up wherever Drive mounts (see "Where the folder lives on disk" below).
  2. Right-click the folder. The Drive menu adds an Offline access submenu.
  3. Click Available offline. The folder gets a small green check icon, and Drive starts pulling every file inside it down to disk.
  4. Wait for the green check on every file inside. Cloud icons mean the file isn't local yet. ResearchOS won't be able to read those until they download.
  5. Open ResearchOS, click Link Folder, and pick that shared folder.

Drive doesn't carry the "available offline" flag across machines, so every member has to do this on every laptop they use ResearchOS from.

Where the folder lives on disk

  • Windows: usually mounted as drive G: or under %USERPROFILE%\GoogleDrive.
  • macOS: under ~/Library/CloudStorage/GoogleDrive-<you@…>/ or shown as a volume on the desktop.

Common pitfalls

  • Stream mode by accident. If files in the lab folder show a cloud icon or take seconds to open, the folder isn't marked offline yet. Right-click the lab folder and pick Available offline (or switch your whole Drive to Mirror if you prefer that).
  • "Shared with me" is not synced. A shared folder doesn't appear in your local Drive folder until you Add shortcut to Drive. Without that, ResearchOS has nothing to point at.
  • Workspace admins sometimes lock Mirror mode off. Check with your IT admin if Drive for desktop only shows the Stream option.

Google documentation