Transfer files from Backblaze B2 to Google Drive
Server to server, without downloading anything to your computer.
How it works
Connect both accounts once. ShiftMyData then talks to Backblaze B2 and Google Drive directly and streams the files between them in memory — nothing is written to our disks, and nothing travels down to your machine and back up again. The job runs on a worker, so closing the tab does not stop it.
Will every file be verified?
Both sides expose SHA-1, so every file is compared by checksum after it lands. A file that arrived corrupted or truncated is detected rather than assumed good, and an unchanged file is skipped on the next run without re-reading it.
Before you start
- The largest single file Google Drive accepts is 5 TB. A bigger one is reported as failed and the rest of the transfer carries on.
- Google Drive accepts at most 750 GB of uploads per user per day. A 2 TB move into it takes at least 3 days however fast both sides are, so plan a large one as a daily schedule rather than a single run.
- Backblaze bills downloads beyond three times your average stored data in a month, so moving everything out at once can be billed by Backblaze.
- A transfer copies each file's current content, name and modification time; sharing and version history stay behind on Backblaze B2. Business migration carries them where both sides support them.
Sources: www.backblaze.com · www.backblaze.com · support.google.com · rclone.org
Worth knowing about Backblaze B2
B2 charges nothing for uploads, and downloads are free up to three times what you store in a month, which makes it a cheap destination. Moving a whole archive back out in one month can pass that allowance, so check before you start.
Worth knowing about Google Drive
Google Docs, Sheets and Slides are not files in the ordinary sense -- they have no bytes to copy and no size until they are exported. ShiftMyData exports them to their Office equivalents on the way out; a native Doc cannot be preserved as a Doc anywhere except another Drive.
Steps
- On the Clouds screen, add Backblaze B2: paste an application key ID and key from the Backblaze console, ideally one limited to the bucket involved.
- Add Google Drive the same way: sign in with Google and allow access.
- Pick the source bucket or prefix in the left pane and the destination folder in the right.
- Choose a mode — copy, mirror, move, or two-way — and start the transfer.
- Leave it. Progress is on the Jobs screen, and a webhook can tell you when it ends.
Questions
Do I have to download my files from Backblaze B2 first?
No. The transfer is streamed from Backblaze B2 to Google Drive on our servers, so nothing is written to your machine and your home upload speed is not the limit.
What happens if I close my laptop?
The job keeps running. It is queued on a worker rather than in your browser, and the progress is there when you come back.
How do I know every file arrived?
Both sides expose SHA-1, so every file is compared by checksum after it lands. A file that arrived corrupted or truncated is detected rather than assumed good, and an unchanged file is skipped on the next run without re-reading it.
Is there a size limit?
None imposed by us. What you move is drawn from your prepaid allowance (30 GB free, then 500 GB for ₹100 or 2,500 GB for ₹500, each valid a year). Google Drive takes single files up to 5 TB, and its own storage quota applies.
Guides
- Transfer Google Drive files to another Google account
- Moving terabytes between clouds
- Two-way sync between two clouds