Mounting cloud storage as a local drive means your Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox or any other cloud account appears in Windows File Explorer with its own drive letter, like a USB disk. You open, edit and save files with your usual apps, and they stay in the cloud: nothing is synced to your PC except a small, size-limited cache. With Air Live Drive you can do it for free with up to three drives.
What does it mean to mount a cloud drive?
Mounting (or mapping) a cloud drive means assigning a drive letter in Windows to a remote storage service. Instead of opening a browser every time you need a file, or installing a sync app that copies your whole account to the disk, Windows treats the cloud as a plugged-in device. Any program with an Open or Save dialog can reach your cloud files: Word, Excel, Photoshop, Premiere, AutoCAD or VLC.
Mounting vs. syncing: what’s the difference?
| Syncing (official desktop apps) | Mounting (Air Live Drive) | |
|---|---|---|
| Local disk space | A full copy of everything you sync | Only a cache, with a limit you choose |
| 100 GB in the cloud | Up to 100 GB on your PC | A few GB of cache at most |
| Several accounts of the same service | Usually one per app | Each account is its own drive |
| Several services | One app per service | One app for 40+ services |
| Working offline | Yes, with the synced files | Only with files you keep as a local copy |
Syncing makes sense when you need everything offline. Mounting makes sense when your cloud is bigger than your disk, when you use several accounts or services, or when you only need to open a few files at a time. Our guide on working with cloud files without syncing goes deeper into how it works.
How to mount cloud storage as a local drive, step by step
- Download Air Live Drive, install it and open it. On Windows the installer also adds the Dokan driver that creates the drives.
- Click Add Cloud Disk and choose your service.
- Sign in. For Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox and most services, the provider’s own sign-in page opens; for S3, FTP, SFTP and WebDAV you enter the server details.
- Pick a free drive letter, or an empty folder if you prefer to mount it inside another drive.
- Click Connect and open This PC: your cloud is there, ready to use.
On a Mac the process is the same, and the cloud appears in Finder instead of File Explorer (macOS 13 or later).
The most used clouds, as Windows drives
Google Drive
Your My Drive appears as a drive, and you can also mount a shared drive or a single folder as the root of the drive. If your organization requires it, you can use your own Google OAuth client ID. Step by step: Mount Google Drive as a Windows drive.
OneDrive and OneDrive for Business
Personal OneDrive, OneDrive for Business and SharePoint Online sites can each be mounted as their own drive, so your personal and work files no longer mix in the same folder.
Dropbox
Dropbox becomes a drive without the Dropbox desktop app copying your whole account to the disk. Full guide: Turn Dropbox into a virtual drive.
iCloud Drive
iCloud Drive can be mounted on Windows too, which is useful if you use an iPhone or a Mac and work on a PC. Guide: How to mount Apple iCloud on Windows.
Amazon S3, Backblaze, Wasabi and other object storage
Amazon S3 and S3-compatible storage (Wasabi, Backblaze, IDrive e2 and others) appear as normal drives: browse your buckets in File Explorer instead of a web console.
Air Live Drive supports more than 40 services, including MEGA, Box, pCloud, PikPak, FTP, SFTP and WebDAV.
Use your cloud as extra local storage
When your disk is full, mounting the cloud is a way to add space without buying hardware. A 1 TB Google Drive or OneDrive plan appears as a 1 TB drive, and files only take up local space while they are in the cache. This is especially useful on laptops with a small SSD and for anyone who works with large files: 4K video, RAW photos, layered PSDs or datasets.
You decide how much space the cache may use and where it is stored. When it reaches the limit, the least used files are removed from it first. To keep a folder available offline, right-click it in File Explorer and choose Download local copy. More detail in the cache management guide and in How to save hard drive space using cloud storage.
Options for everyday work
- Several accounts at once: each personal, work or client account is its own drive. See how to mount several accounts.
- Read-only drives: consult files without the risk of changing or deleting them by accident.
- Background uploads: save a large file and keep working while it uploads.
- Connect at startup: your drives are ready every time you sign in to Windows.
FAQ
Does mounting a cloud drive take up space on my PC?
Only the cache. Files are downloaded to a local cache when you open them, and you set its maximum size. Your full cloud storage is never copied to the disk.
Can I work offline with a mounted cloud drive?
Only with the files you keep as a local copy (right-click › Download local copy in File Explorer). Everything else needs an internet connection, because the files live in the cloud.
Is it free?
Yes. The free version mounts up to three drives, one account per cloud service. Air Live Drive Pro removes those limits.
Can I edit large files without downloading them first?
Yes. Open them from the mounted drive with your usual application. Air Live Drive retrieves the file when you open it and uploads your changes when you save, in the background.
Is Air Live Drive an alternative to RaiDrive?
Yes. It mounts the same kind of services as drives in Windows, works on Mac too, and has a free version for up to three drives. More in Top RaiDrive alternative.
Can it copy thousands of files between clouds?
Air Live Drive is designed for everyday work with your files. For large transfers or backups from one cloud to another, our companion app Air Explorer is the better tool.
Start working with your clouds as drives
Mounting your clouds as local drives ends the browser downloads, the duplicate sync folders and the “low disk space” warnings. Download Air Live Drive, add your first account and open it in File Explorer.
Related reading:
- How to access cloud files without downloading them to your PC
- What is the best software to map SFTP and WebDAV servers as hard drives?
- Top RaiDrive alternative: Air Live Drive