How to Move Files from Dropbox to Google Drive (3 Ways)
· 5 min read · Updated
Dropbox and Google Drive have no built-in transfer between them, so you have three realistic options: drag files across through the two desktop apps, upload through the Google Drive website, or run a direct transfer that streams each file from Dropbox to Google Drive without saving it to your disk.
The manual routes mean downloading your whole Dropbox before any of it goes up to Google, which needs free disk space equal to your library.
| Method | Local disk needed | Speed | Folder structure | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manual (desktop sync, then drag) | Full library size | Slow: download, then upload | You may have to rebuild it | A single small folder |
| Browser upload | Enough to download first | Slow | Preserved if you recreate folders | A few gigabytes |
| Blober (direct) | None, files stream through memory | About half the time: download and upload overlap | Preserved automatically | Whole-account moves and large libraries |
People switch from Dropbox to Google Drive for a few common reasons:
- Their company standardized on Google Workspace and needs everything in Drive
- Google One pricing is more competitive for their storage needs (2 TB for $100/year vs Dropbox Plus at $120/year)
- They want the Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides collaboration features
- They are consolidating everything under one Google account
Without a migration tool, moving from Dropbox to Google Drive looks like this:
- Install the Dropbox desktop client
- Wait for all files to sync to your computer
- Drag those files into your Google Drive folder (if using the desktop client) or upload them through the browser
- Wait for everything to upload
- Verify nothing was missed
This requires enough local disk space to hold your entire Dropbox. If you have 500 GB in Dropbox and a 256 GB laptop, you are stuck.
Even with enough space, the process is slow. Everything comes down from Dropbox's servers to your disk first and only then goes up to Google's servers, so you wait for two full transfers back to back.
Blober streams each file from Dropbox through your computer to Google Drive without storing it on your local disk, so you don't need disk space for your entire library.
- A 1 TB Dropbox can move to Google Drive from a laptop with 128 GB of storage.
- The download from Dropbox and the upload to Google Drive happen at the same time, so the move takes about half the network time of downloading everything and then uploading it. Each file still comes down and goes up over your connection.
- Your Dropbox folder hierarchy is recreated exactly in Google Drive.
- Connect Dropbox by signing in through your browser (OAuth). Blober then stays signed in.
- Connect Google Drive the same way, so Blober can access your Drive files.
- Browse your Dropbox in Blober's file browser and select specific folders or all of it.
- Create a workflow with Dropbox as the source and Google Drive as the destination.
- Run it. Blober shows progress and resumes automatically after an interruption.
Dropbox is one of the providers where Blober uses the provider's own copy and move operations. Copy duplicates files within Dropbox without downloading them again, and Move relocates them without a round trip through your computer.
Files going to Google Drive still stream through your computer as described above. The native operations help when you also want to reorganize Dropbox before or after the migration.
Once your files are in Google Drive:
- You can open them from any device signed in to your Google account
- Google indexes their content for search
- You can edit Office files (DOCX, XLSX, PPTX) in Google Docs, Sheets and Slides
- Files sync across devices through the Google Drive desktop app
You can keep Dropbox installed alongside Google Drive for a transition period, and downgrade or cancel it once you have checked that everything transferred. Blober itself is a one-time purchase, so it leaves no subscription to cancel, and its price does not change with how much data you move. Most cloud-to-cloud services charge per gigabyte, or monthly for as long as you keep them.
Can I transfer files from Dropbox to Google Drive without downloading them first? Yes. Blober streams each file from Dropbox to Google Drive through your computer. Nothing is saved to your local disk, so you do not need free space equal to your library size.
Does Blober preserve my Dropbox folder structure in Google Drive? Yes. Blober recreates the folder hierarchy exactly in Google Drive, nested folders included.
How long does a Dropbox to Google Drive migration take? It depends on how much data you have and your upload speed. Blober uploads each file while it downloads it, so it finishes in roughly half the time of downloading everything and then uploading it.
Will files I add to Dropbox later show up in Google Drive? Only when you run the workflow again, because Blober has no background sync or schedule. With the default "Skip if a file with the same name exists" setting, a re-run copies the new files and skips those already in Google Drive, including ones you edited, since it compares names. If a run is interrupted, resume that same task so completed files are not copied twice.
Can I move from Dropbox to Google Workspace or a Shared Drive? Yes. A Workspace account connects like any Google Drive account. Shared Drive folders you can edit appear under Shared With Me, so you can pick one as the destination.
- Switch from Google Drive to Dropbox for the reverse direction
- Move files between Dropbox and iCloud for iCloud Drive and iCloud Photos
- Move Dropbox to Backblaze B2 for cheaper long-term storage
- Provider setup: Dropbox and Google Drive