How to Migrate Google Drive Files to AWS S3
When Google Drive Is Not Enough
Section titled “When Google Drive Is Not Enough”Google Drive works great as a collaboration tool. Real-time editing, sharing links, 15 GB free storage. But when your data grows past a few hundred gigabytes, or when you need programmatic access, versioning policies, or storage tiering, Google Drive starts showing its limits.
AWS S3 is built for exactly those use cases. It handles petabytes, offers multiple storage classes, integrates with hundreds of AWS services, and gives you full API control. The gap between Google Drive and S3 is not about which is “better.” It is about what each one is built for.
Moving from one to the other is where things get complicated.
The Google Drive Export Problem
Section titled “The Google Drive Export Problem”Google Drive stores some files as native Google formats: Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides. These are not actual files on disk. They are application states stored in Google’s cloud. You cannot download a “Google Doc file” the way you download a PDF.
When you export from Google Drive (or use Google Takeout), these files get converted to their Microsoft Office equivalents: DOCX, XLSX, PPTX. But this conversion is often inconsistent with Takeout, and the folder structure gets flattened.
How Blober Handles Google Drive to S3
Section titled “How Blober Handles Google Drive to S3”Blober connects to Google Drive via OAuth and to AWS S3 via access keys. It solves the two biggest pain points of this migration:
Automatic Google Docs Conversion
Section titled “Automatic Google Docs Conversion”When Blober encounters a Google Doc, Sheet, or Slide, it automatically converts it to the corresponding Office format (DOCX, XLSX, PPTX) during transfer. This happens on the fly. You do not need to manually export anything.
The converted files land in your S3 bucket in a usable format that any application can read.
Folder Structure Preserved
Section titled “Folder Structure Preserved”Blober recreates your Google Drive folder hierarchy in S3. If you have Work/Projects/2025/Proposal.docx in Google Drive, it becomes Work/Projects/2025/Proposal.docx in your S3 bucket. No flat dumps, no reorganization needed.
Shared Files Included
Section titled “Shared Files Included”Google Drive has a “Shared with me” section that is separate from your main drive. Blober shows this as a browsable folder, so you can include shared files in your migration if needed.
- Connect Google Drive: Add Google Drive as a provider. Blober opens a browser window for OAuth authorization. Sign in and grant access.
- Connect AWS S3: Add S3 with your Access Key ID, Secret Access Key, and region.
- Create a workflow: Set Google Drive as source, S3 as destination. Browse your Drive, select files and folders.
- Choose S3 options: Pick the storage class (Standard, Intelligent-Tiering, Standard-IA, Glacier, etc.) and target bucket.
- Run: Blober transfers with progress tracking and auto-resume.
S3 Storage Class Selection
Section titled “S3 Storage Class Selection”One advantage of moving to S3 is choosing the right storage class for your data:
| Storage Class | Use Case | Cost (per TB/mo) |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | Frequently accessed files | ~$23 |
| Intelligent-Tiering | Unknown access patterns | ~$23 (auto-optimizes) |
| Standard-IA | Infrequent access, fast retrieval | ~$12.50 |
| Glacier Instant | Archive with instant access | ~$4 |
| Glacier Deep Archive | Long-term cold storage | ~$1 |
With Blober, you set the storage class when creating the workflow. All transferred files land on the tier you choose. If you want different tiers for different data, create multiple workflows.
Who Does This
Section titled “Who Does This”- Startups growing out of Google Workspace who need infrastructure-grade storage
- Data teams that need to run analytics on files currently in Google Drive
- Companies consolidating storage to AWS for compliance or integration reasons
- Developers who want S3’s API and event-driven architecture instead of Google Drive’s sync model
Get Blober
Section titled “Get Blober”One-time purchase. No per-GB fees, no subscription.