The native Drive client Google won't build

Google Drive sync
made for Linux

Mirror your Google Drive folders to local disk, open Google Docs with a double-click, and see sync status in your system tray — all in a native Linux app.

Try free for 14 days How it works

$19 one-time · No subscription · No credit card to try

Or watch the full 8-minute tour ↓

Skymir in under 3 minutes · 1080p · narrated, with captions

Google never made a Drive app for Linux

Google Drive for desktop runs on Windows and macOS only. So we built one for Linux.

Skymir started with a sync run that deleted 1,437 of our Google Docs. We were using rclone's bisync to mirror twenty years of files, and the native Docs, Sheets and Slides were removed as if they were missing files. rclone is a great tool for bulk transfers; keeping a working folder in sync with Drive's native documents turned out to be a different job.

So Skymir is built safety-first. Google Docs become shortcuts, never "missing files". Every delete goes to a trash you can restore from, on both sides. And a sync that would delete more than half your files is refused.

What Skymir does

Built from scratch on the Google Drive API. Your files are real files on disk, not a virtual filesystem.

⟷

True mirror mode

Mirror your entire Google Drive — or just the folders you choose — in perfect sync with local disk. Edit on either side; changes flow both ways. Full offline access. Deletions propagate safely to the trash — 30-day recovery, never permanent.

Skymir's Recent Activity window listing downloads, uploads, deletions and shortcut creations with timestamps
📄

Open Google Docs with a double-click

Skymir generates .gdoc, .gsheet, and .gslides shortcuts for every native Google Docs file in your Drive. Double-click in Nemo, Nautilus, or Dolphin to open the live document in your browser.

A .gdoc shortcut file shown inside a mirrored GDocs folder in the Files manager
⚡

Quick, incremental sync

Save a file and it's on Drive within seconds. Changes made in Drive — on the web, your phone, another computer — come down within about a minute. Skymir asks Drive only for what changed since the last check (changes.list), so it never rescans your whole Drive.

Skymir's General settings tab with sync interval, max-delete safety, start-on-login and exclude patterns
🌐

Native GTK tray

Real AppIndicator3 icon that matches your Mint, GNOME, Cinnamon, KDE, or XFCE theme. Shows sync status at a glance. Quick actions: sync now, pause, open folder, open settings.

The Skymir tray menu showing trial status, last sync, and Sync Now, Pause, Open Drive Folder, Settings, Recent Activity and Quit actions

How Skymir compares

From each product's website and its current Ubuntu 24.04 package, checked September 2026.

Skymir
 Insync overGrive rclone
Price $19 one-time $39.99 per Google account $9.99 one-time Free
Free trial 14 days 7 days 14 days —
Installed size 56 MB 419 MB 2.4 MB 95 MB
Native toolkit GTK3 Qt5 GTK3 None (CLI)

How it works

1

Install

Add the skymir.app apt repository, or download the .deb directly. Works on Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Debian, Pop!_OS, and other Debian-based distros.

Install instructions →
2

Connect & choose how to sync

A guided wizard walks you through Google sign-in, then offers two modes: Full Drive Sync mirrors your entire My Drive and auto-adds new folders, or Selective lets you pick exactly which folders to mirror. Switch any time in Settings.

3

Sync & go

The background daemon keeps everything in sync. The tray icon shows status. Double-click any .gdoc to open it in your browser. Done.

Watch the whole thing, start to finish

No cuts, no sped-up footage: install, sign in, pick folders, first sync, opening a Google Doc from the file manager, and the tray in normal use.

8 min 30 sec · 1080p · no sound needed

Simple pricing

One-time purchase. Lifetime updates. No subscription, ever.

LAUNCH PRICE
$19 USD
one-time payment · lifetime updates
  • ✓ 14-day free trial with full functionality. No credit card required to try.
  • ✓ All features unlocked — mirror mode, tray, settings GUI, activity viewer, background daemon.
  • ✓ One license, one machine — move between computers anytime via deactivation.
  • ✓ Lifetime updates — every future release included.
  • ✓ Email support at support@skymir.app
  • ✓ 30-day refund policy. Read the full policy.
Buy Skymir — $19 Try free for 14 days

Install today and your trial starts on first launch — no account, no credit card.

Frequently asked questions

Which Linux distributions are supported? ▾

Skymir ships as a .deb package built against glibc 2.35, so it runs on Ubuntu 22.04+, Linux Mint 21+, Debian 12+, Pop!_OS, elementary OS, Zorin OS, and other Debian-based distributions. End-to-end tested on Linux Mint 22.3, Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS, Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS, and Debian 13 "Trixie" across Cinnamon, GNOME, and KDE Plasma. Support for .rpm (Fedora) and Flatpak is planned after launch.

Can I sync all of My Drive, or pick specific folders? ▾

Both. Full Drive Sync mirrors every top-level folder in your My Drive and automatically picks up new folders you create later — same model as Google Drive Desktop on Windows and Mac. Selective mode lets you choose exactly which folders to mirror, so you can leave large or noisy folders behind. You pick at first-run setup, and you can switch between the two any time in Settings → Folders. Either way, only your My Drive is mirrored. Shared drives aren't supported yet.

How does the 14-day trial work? ▾

Install Skymir, use it with full functionality for 14 days. No credit card, no account registration — just your email so we can send trial reminders and reply to support requests. After the trial, you'll need to purchase a license to continue using the graphical app and background sync. If you decide not to buy, the app stops; your local files and Drive data are untouched.

What's your refund policy? ▾

30-day no-questions-asked refund. Since Skymir has a 14-day free trial, most compatibility or fit issues are caught before you pay. But if something changes after purchase and it's no longer working for you, email support@skymir.app within 30 days and we'll refund in full. See the full refund policy.

Is Skymir affiliated with Google? ▾

No. Skymir is an independent third-party application built on top of Google's public Drive API. It is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Google LLC. "Google Drive", "Google Docs", and related marks are trademarks of Google LLC.

What data does Skymir send off my machine? ▾

Your Google Drive data moves only between your computer and Google — we never see or store it. The app sends a small amount of data to our server: email address and OS version at setup, license key and a random machine identifier at activation, and a weekly "still alive" ping. We do not collect usage telemetry, crash reports, or any information about your files. See the privacy policy for the full list.

Can I use my license on multiple computers? ▾

Each license activates one machine at a time. To move to a new computer, deactivate on the old one from Settings → License → Deactivate, then activate on the new one. You can move as many times as you want.

What happens to my files if I stop using Skymir? ▾

Nothing. Skymir mirrors files between your disk and Drive; it doesn't lock them into any proprietary format. If you uninstall Skymir, your local files stay on your disk and your Drive content stays in Google Drive. No vendor lock-in.

Ready for Google Drive that just works?

Skymir is the native Linux client you've been waiting for. $19 one-time, 14-day trial, no subscription.

Get Skymir