How to Move Google Drive to Dropbox (Including Google Docs)
· 4 min read · Updated
Google Docs, Sheets and Slides only exist inside Google, so you cannot drag them into Dropbox. They have to be converted to Word, Excel or PowerPoint files on the way. There are three ways to do it: export each one by hand, use Google Takeout and upload the zip files it gives you, or run a direct transfer with Blober, which converts Docs to Office formats and rebuilds your folders in Dropbox.
| Method | Google Docs handling | Folder structure | Local disk needed | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manual export, then upload | Open and export each one | Rebuild by hand | Full library size | A handful of files |
| Google Takeout | Exports to Office, inside flat zips | Lost in date-stamped folders | Space for every zip | A full archive you will sort later |
| Blober (direct) | Auto-converts to .docx, .xlsx, .pptx | Preserved automatically | None, files stream through memory | Moving your account intact |
Google Drive is tightly integrated with Google Workspace, so it is the natural place for files if your team lives in Gmail and Google Docs. If you work with non-Google tools, or you need reliable desktop sync, offline access and smart file management, Dropbox has the stronger desktop experience.
People switch from Google Drive to Dropbox for a few reasons:
- Dropbox's desktop sync is more reliable for large file sets
- Better support for non-Google file formats and creative tools
- Dropbox Paper, Smart Sync, and team folder management
- Moving away from Google Workspace entirely
Because Docs, Sheets and Slides exist only in Google's cloud, moving them by hand means doing this for each one:
- Open the Google Doc, Sheet, or Slide
- Download it as DOCX, XLSX, or PPTX
- Upload it to Dropbox
- Repeat for every native Google file
Regular files such as PDFs, images and videos you can download from Google Drive and upload to Dropbox, but you need enough local disk space to hold all of them, and you have to recreate the folder structure yourself.
Google Takeout exports everything as flat zip archives, and your folders end up inside date-stamped directories.
Blober reads your Google Drive and writes to Dropbox. When it finds Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides, it converts them to their Office equivalents (DOCX, XLSX, PPTX) during the transfer. Regular files pass through unchanged.
- Google Docs become .docx files that open in Word, Dropbox Paper or another word processor
- Google Sheets become .xlsx files that open in Excel or Numbers
- Google Slides become .pptx files that open in PowerPoint or Keynote
- PDFs, images, videos and other regular files transfer without conversion
- The folder structure matches what you see in Google Drive
- Files shared with you are available through the "Shared with me" virtual folder
- Connect Google Drive by signing in through your browser (OAuth)
- Connect Dropbox the same way, or paste an access token
- In Blober's file browser, select everything in your Google Drive or only specific folders
- Run the transfer. Files stream from Google Drive to Dropbox through your computer, so you need no disk space for intermediate copies
Blober is a one-time purchase, and moving 50 GB costs the same as moving 5 TB. Hosted cloud-to-cloud services usually bill per gigabyte, or monthly for as long as you keep them, so for a single switch from Google Drive to Dropbox you would be renting a tool for a weekend. With Blober there is nothing to cancel once the switch is done.
Once your files are in Dropbox, you can:
- Install Dropbox on your devices for desktop sync
- Share folders and files with Dropbox's sharing tools
- Use Smart Sync to keep files in the cloud until you need them locally
- Edit Office files directly (Dropbox has built-in Office integration)
The converted Google Docs are ordinary Office files, fully editable in any app that opens that format.
Can I move Google Drive to Dropbox without downloading everything first? Yes. Blober streams the files from Google Drive to Dropbox through your computer, so you do not need local disk space for the whole library.
What happens to my Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides? Blober converts them during the transfer: Docs to .docx, Sheets to .xlsx, and Slides to .pptx, all fully editable in Office, Dropbox Paper, or similar tools.
Does Blober transfer files shared with me? Yes. Files shared with your Google account appear under the "Shared with me" folder in Blober, and you can include them in the transfer.
Does Blober copy changes made in Google Drive after the switch? Not on its own. Blober has no background sync or scheduler and runs a workflow only when you start it, so it suits a one-time switch. If a run is interrupted, resume that same task so the files it already finished are not copied again.
Can I switch from Google Workspace or a Shared Drive to Dropbox? Yes. A Workspace account connects like any Google Drive account, and files in Shared Drives you can open appear under Shared With Me, so you can select them as the source.
- Move from Dropbox to Google Drive for the reverse direction
- Provider setup: Google Drive and Dropbox