How reliable *is* Google Drive?

Factual Questions
1

So I have been working on a document in Google Drive for the last hour, and the file has gotten so corrupt I’ve had to switch to Word. Google said some kind of error prevented it from saving my changes, and when I step back through my revisions I see loads of text errors: words and letters moved around, and some sections gone entirely.

Is this typical in your estimation? I’ve been a casual Google Drive user and have found it pretty reliable, until this evening. Ironically, the document I’m working on is a proposal to my employers to allow me to work remotely, and one tool I am counting on to make such a thing work is Google Drive. So I’m wondering how typical these things are.

Thanks!

2

Google Drive doesn’t automatically save your file, so if you forget to do that, and your internet connection is lost, you can lose all your work since you last saved. In general, it’s better just to use Office programs, because the document editor in Google Drive just doesn’t have all the functions. That could be how you’re getting the text errors.

For documents that I’m working on frequently I use Drop Box, and I use Google Drive for more general storage purposes. See this recent thread for a discussion on how they function, as this might make a difference for your prospects doing work remotely.

3

Hmm? If you’re talking about the Word Processor, that’s incorrect. It auto-saves practically after anything you do

4

Just chiming in to say that it also auto saves spreadsheet documents, both on PC using a browser and the Android app.

5

I think we need to distinguish between Google Drive and Google Docs (the word processor, spreadsheet etc.). You can use Google Drive purely for file storage and sync, like DropBox, without having to use the Google apps. If you save a file in the Google Drive folder on your PC, such as a Microsoft Word document, it will be automatically saved to the “cloud”.

6

I didn’t mean to be confusing. Google Docs technically doesn’t exist anymore as a separate product. I’m interested in the document functions, not the file storage functions.

7

I’ve had documents get corrupt at a much higher rate than in other word processors. I’ve been really happy with having my documents in the cloud and with the general interface and functionality. But yes, I’ve been annoyed by this sort of problem as well.

8

I’ve never had a problem with Google Docs/Drive myself. I don’t use it for work purposes so I don’t use it constantly, but I have various documents to keep track of personal projects and have never run into a problem where a document got corrupted to the point of losing it. I sure hope that doesn’t happen, because one of my Google Docs just crossed the 100 page mark over the weekend.