How to Migrate Google Drive Files to AWS S3
· 3 min read · Updated
Google Drive is good for collaboration: real-time editing, sharing links and 15 GB of free storage. It starts to show its limits when your data grows past a few hundred gigabytes, or when you need programmatic access, versioning policies or storage tiering.
AWS S3 is built for those cases. It handles petabytes, has several storage classes, works with hundreds of AWS services, and gives you full API control.
Google Docs, Sheets and Slides are application data in Google's cloud, so there is no "Google Doc file" to download the way you download a PDF.
Exporting from Google Drive, or using Google Takeout, converts them to their Microsoft Office equivalents: DOCX, XLSX and PPTX. With Takeout the conversion is often inconsistent, and the folder structure gets flattened.
Blober signs in to Google Drive with OAuth and to AWS S3 with access keys, then takes care of the conversion and the folder structure.
Blober converts each Google Doc, Sheet and Slide to DOCX, XLSX or PPTX as it transfers, so you do not export anything by hand. The converted files are saved in your bucket in formats any application can read.
Blober recreates your Google Drive folder hierarchy in S3. A file at Work/Projects/2025/Proposal.docx in Google Drive becomes Work/Projects/2025/Proposal.docx in the bucket, so there is nothing to reorganize afterwards.
Google Drive keeps a "Shared with me" section apart from your main drive. Blober shows it as a folder you can browse, so you can include shared files in the move.
- Add Google Drive as a provider. Blober opens a browser window where you sign in and grant access.
- Add AWS S3 with your Access Key ID, Secret Access Key and region.
- Create a workflow with Google Drive as the source and S3 as the destination, then browse your Drive and select files and folders.
- In the S3 destination settings, pick the target bucket and the Storage Class (Standard, Intelligent-Tiering, Standard-IA, Glacier and others).
- Run the workflow. Blober shows progress and resumes automatically if the transfer is interrupted.
S3 lets you match the storage class to how often you read the data:
| Storage class | Use case | Cost (per TB a month) |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
In Blober the storage class is part of the workflow, and every file it transfers is stored in that class. For data that belongs in different classes, create one workflow per class.
- Startups growing out of Google Workspace that need infrastructure-grade storage
- Data teams that need to run analytics on files now in Google Drive
- Companies consolidating storage on AWS for compliance or integration reasons
- Developers who want S3's API and event-driven architecture instead of Google Drive's sync model
Can I send Google Drive files straight to S3 Glacier? Yes. Pick a Glacier storage class, such as Glacier Instant or Glacier Deep Archive, in the workflow, and every file it transfers is stored there.
Does my Drive folder structure carry over to S3?
Yes. A file at Work/Projects/2025/Proposal.docx in Drive is saved at the same path in your bucket.
What AWS details does Blober need? An Access Key ID, a Secret Access Key and the region, plus the bucket you want the files in.