Google has officially released the ARM-compatible version of Google Drive for Windows. This means PCs powered by Snapdragon chips and other ARM hardware can finally synchronize files with Google Drive, without relying on the beta version or third-party tools.
The first wave of Windows laptops with Snapdragon X Elite chips arrived last year, promising all-day battery life and great performance, but software compatibility is still rough. Microsoft added a compatibility layer that allows Windows 11 on ARM to run 32-bit and 64-bit x86 software, which covers most Windows applications and games, but some software still is not fully compatible. That includes applications that integrate with the Windows Explorer, like cloud synchronization tools and other system extensions.
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Google Drive initially didn’t work at all with PCs powered by Snapdragon chips, including the latest Surface Laptop, Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x, Surface Pro, ASUS Zenbook A14, Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7441, and Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid. Unlike the last few attempts at ARM-powered Windows devices—RIP the Surface RT—this hardware transition is still gaining momentum.
In December, a few months after the first Snapdragon X Elite laptops hit store shelves, Google released a beta version of the Google Drive client that could run natively on 64-bit ARM devices, including Snapdragon laptops. Almost four months later, Google Drive for ARM Windows is out of beta and now ready for widespread use.
Google said in a blog post, “Last year, we introduced a new beta that supports running Google Drive on Arm-compatible Windows PCs, and today we’re excited to announce this is now generally available. Compiled for ARM64, this release enables users to easily sync and store files online from Windows PCs powered by Snapdragon processors.”
If you have an ARM-powered PC, you can now download the Google Drive client for desktop, and it should work exactly like on any other Windows PC with full syncronization in the File Explorer. If you already had the beta version installed, it will be automatically updated to the stable version. The ARM-native version is rolling out to all Google Drive users, across both personal accounts and Workspace managed accounts. The automatic update could take up to 15 days to roll out to everyone, starting on March 24, 2025.
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Google mentioned that the ARM-native version requires Microsoft WebView2—presumably for embedded web content like the login screen. That component is probably already installed on your Windows PC, but if it’s not there, the Drive client installer will prompt you to download and install it.
The software compatibility for ARM Windows PCs has improved significantly over the past few months. Most web browsers, including Google Chrome, released ARM-native versions before or around the first wave of Snapdragon X Elite laptops. Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, Proton VPN, Start11, Blender, GIMP, Google Quick Share, and many other applications have released ARM-native Windows apps as well. Most games still require x86 emulation or don’t work at all—Qualcomm and Epic recently worked to bring Epic’s Easy Anti-Cheat technology to ARM PCs, which could improve game compatibility.
Source: Google Workspace Updates
