Hi everyone, I’m dealing with a tricky situation at work and could use some input.
Our team needs to work with really big files through Google Drive, but we keep running into problems. The main issue is that Google Drive for Desktop eats up local hard drive space as temporary storage, which means people with smaller hard drives (most of our laptops have small SSDs) just can’t handle these large downloads. The process fails completely when there isn’t enough free space.
What we really need is something that lets people access and work with huge files without filling up their computer’s storage. It would be great if multiple team members could access the same files easily too.
I’ve been looking at a few options but wanted to get thoughts from people who’ve dealt with this before. Has anyone found a good workaround for this kind of storage limitation problem? What solutions have actually worked well for your teams when dealing with large file management and small local drives?
Try browser-based access instead. We ditched Drive for Desktop and moved our team to the web interface for large files. Google’s web viewer handles most document types without downloading anything locally, and you can edit Office files, PDFs, and media right in the browser. You’ll lose offline access, but if you’re fighting storage issues, this completely kills the temp file problem. Performance was actually better than we expected, especially when multiple people need to work on the same files. Only catch is specialized software that needs local files won’t work, but for regular business stuff it fixed our SSD space issues instantly.
Had this exact problem last year with our video team. Best fix was switching Google Drive to streaming mode instead of sync. You can set Drive for Desktop to stream files on-demand rather than downloading everything locally. Files only cache temporarily while you’re working on them, then clear automatically. Works well if your internet’s stable. For huge files that multiple people edit, we also leaned harder into Google’s collaborative editing instead of everyone downloading their own copies. Streaming cut our local storage by about 80% and workflow stayed pretty smooth.
We had the same problem with CAD files and went with external storage. Set up a NAS that everyone can access through file explorer - no downloading needed. Yeah, it took some IT setup time, but it completely solved our temp storage headaches since everything stays on the NAS. Just map the network drive and work like the files are local. Performance depends on your network speed, but we’ve got multiple people editing huge files at once without those annoying storage warnings. Way cheaper than upgrading everyone’s SSDs and you get centralized backup too.
just bump up your drive cache limits in settings. most people don’t realize you can cap it at 2GB instead of leaving it unlimited. works great for big files without eating all your storage, though really massive files might buffer a bit when streaming.
Been there, done that. Storage headaches are the worst, especially when you need workflows moving.
Automation saved us when we hit this wall. Instead of wrestling with downloads and temp files, I built automated workflows that process large files in the cloud and only pull what each person needs.
The system watches Google Drive folders, processes large files on upload, splits them into chunks, converts formats, and sends notifications when ready. Team gets exactly what they need without touching local storage.
For collaboration, it creates shared workspaces with file versioning. Multiple people work on different parts while the system merges and syncs in the background.
Best part? Full customization. Need thumbnails instead of full images? Done. Want auto-compression for certain file types? Easy. Team member needs a specific format? Handled automatically.
No more failed downloads, storage warnings, or waiting for files to sync.
I built this using Latenode since it connects directly with Google Drive and handles complex file operations without issues. Much cleaner than patching together different solutions.
we had this issue too! try switching to Dropbox, it was a lifesaver for us. selective sync means no more temp space headaches. also, if possible, consider getting the Workspace Enterprise plan—it has some cool streaming features that really help with large files.