This feature isn't available with Cloud Identity Free or Cloud Identity Premium editions.
As an administrator, when you deploy Google Drive for desktop for your organization, you can review information about devices that use Drive for desktop and the Drive for desktop installation. You can also restrict Drive for desktop to only company-owned devices.
Note: Drive for desktop does not prevent data theft. Users can copy data from Drive for desktop to non-secured areas like another hard drive partition.
Find information about Drive for desktop on a device
You can get Drive for desktop information, such as the version number, last sync date, or the amount of offline data on a device, in the Google Admin console devices list.
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Sign in with an administrator account to the Google Admin console.
If you aren’t using an administrator account, you can’t access the Admin console.
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- Click Endpoints.
- To view only devices that have Drive for desktop:
- At the top of the device list, click Add a filter.
- Select Management Type
Drive for desktop
- To view Drive for desktop details for a device, click the device and find the Drive for desktop section. For a description of all available device information, see View laptop and desktop device details.
Restrict Drive for desktop to company owned devices
Requirements: Devices must be entered in your company owned device inventory. If the serial number in the inventory doesn't match the device's, or the device isn't in the inventory, the device is blocked from using Drive for desktop.
Before you begin: If you need to set up a department or team for this setting, go to Add an organizational unit.
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Sign in with an administrator account to the Google Admin console.
If you aren’t using an administrator account, you can’t access the Admin console.
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Go to Menu
Apps > Google Workspace > Drive and Docs.
Requires having the Service Settings administrator privilege.
- Click Features and Applications
- (Optional) To apply the setting to a department or team, at the side, select an organizational unit. Show me how
- Check Only allow Google Drive for desktop on authorized devices.
- Click Save. Or, you might click Override for an organizational unit.
To later restore the inherited value, click Inherit.
If personal (not company-owned) devices already have Drive for desktop, devices lose access after they're restarted or Drive for desktop checks the device's compliance (a maximum of 3 hours), whichever comes first.
Troubleshooting
“Your administrator has restricted Google Drive access to authorized devices.”
- Open the devices list and ensure the device is listed (it hasn't been deleted).
- Confirm that the device's serial number matches the one entered in the company-owned device inventory.