Almost every customer who brings a broken laptop into our Edinburgh workshop asks the same question once we've recovered their files: "Which cloud storage should I actually use?" OneDrive, Google Drive and Dropbox all promise to keep your documents and photos safe in the cloud, but they suit very different people. This guide compares the three from the perspective of a technician who sees the real-world failures — sync conflicts in Bruntsfield, ransomware in Livingston, and small businesses in Leith outgrowing their plans — so you can pick the one that fits your setup.
If you've already lost something important and you're not sure whether the cloud copy is still intact, our data recovery team can help check before you click "restore" and overwrite the wrong version.
What Cloud Storage Actually Does
Cloud storage keeps a copy of selected folders on a remote server and quietly syncs changes between your PC, your phone and any other devices you sign in on. It is not the same as a backup, even though many people use the words interchangeably. If you delete a file on your laptop, a sync service usually deletes it everywhere else within seconds. We will come back to that distinction below, because it is the single biggest misconception we see at our Linlithgow callouts.
Microsoft OneDrive
OneDrive is the default option on Windows 11. It hooks directly into File Explorer, the desktop, Documents and Pictures folders, and rolls into the same Microsoft account you use for Outlook and Xbox. If you already pay for Microsoft 365 (the rebranded Office), you have a generous storage allocation included with your subscription, which makes it the most painless choice for the average Edinburgh household.
Where it shines: tight Windows integration, Personal Vault (an encrypted folder protected by a second sign-in), version history that retains roughly 30 days of changes, and ransomware detection that can roll an entire account back to a clean snapshot. For small businesses already on Microsoft 365, the business tiers add SharePoint, Teams and tighter admin controls.
Where it stumbles: sync conflicts when the same file is edited on two devices offline, slow first-time sync on slow rural fibre, and an interface that occasionally interrupts you with prompts to "back up your folders" even when you have declined twice.
Google Drive
Google Drive lives inside the Google ecosystem — Gmail, Docs, Sheets and Photos all share the same storage pool. The standalone entry tier is the most generous of the three, and the paid Google One plans bump that up considerably while throwing in a VPN and family sharing.
Where it shines: superb real-time collaboration in Google Docs, excellent search (it can read text inside scanned PDFs and even images), and a friendly mobile app. If your family already runs on Android phones, Drive is the path of least resistance.
Where it stumbles: the Windows desktop client (Drive for desktop) is less mature than OneDrive's, version history is shorter on the entry tier, and Photos and Drive used to be separate buckets — the cleanup that merged them left a lot of duplicates we still untangle for customers in Dundee.
Dropbox
Dropbox got there first and still does the basics better than anyone. It's the option we recommend for designers, photographers and anyone shuffling large files between Mac, Windows and Linux machines without wanting to think about it.
Where it shines: rock-solid sync engine (it transfers only the changed parts of a file, which matters for big InDesign or video projects), excellent third-party integrations, Smart Sync to keep cloud-only files visible in Explorer without using disk space, and a Rewind feature that can roll a whole folder back to any point in the last 30 days.
Where it stumbles: the entry tier is the smallest of the three by some distance, the paid plans skew higher than equivalents, and you have to pay separately for the office suite — there is no built-in word processor like Word or Docs.
Storage Sizes at a Glance
As of mid-2026, the entry tiers stack up roughly like this:
- OneDrive: 5 GB on the entry tier; 100 GB on the cheapest paid plan; 1 TB bundled with Microsoft 365 Personal.
- Google Drive: 15 GB on the entry tier (shared with Gmail and Photos); Google One plans start at 100 GB and climb to 2 TB and beyond.
- Dropbox: 2 GB on the entry tier; Plus plan offers 2 TB; Family and Professional plans go higher with extra features.
If you take a lot of photos, the practical comparison is "how many years of pictures does it hold". A typical phone camera roll runs at around 5–10 GB per year, so 100 GB tends to be the sensible floor for most Edinburgh households we set up.
Security and Privacy: What to Check
All three providers encrypt your files in transit and at rest. They differ on a few things you should know:
- Two-factor authentication is available on every plan — turn it on the day you sign up. Our 2FA guide walks through it.
- End-to-end encryption (where even the provider cannot read your files) is not the default on any of these services. If that matters to you, look at OneDrive Personal Vault or third-party tools like Cryptomator on top of any service.
- Where data is stored: for UK and EU customers, all three offer European data centres on their business plans, which matters for GDPR-sensitive workloads. Our business IT support team handles this conversation with clients in Linlithgow and Livingston regularly.
Cloud Storage Is Not a Full Backup
This is the message we repeat at every callout, including a memorable one in Leith last winter where a customer's ransomware encrypted their PC and their entire OneDrive within minutes. Cloud sync replicates whatever your PC sends it — if that's encrypted nonsense, that's what ends up in the cloud.
Use the version-history or rollback feature (OneDrive's "Restore", Google's "Trash" and "Version history", Dropbox's "Rewind") to undo damage. Better still, pair cloud sync with a real backup — either an external drive that you unplug when finished, or a separate cloud backup service like Backblaze that keeps versioned snapshots independent of your sync folder. If you've already had a scare, our data recovery service can usually recover what the cloud didn't save.
How to Set Cloud Sync Up Properly
Whichever service you pick, a few habits will save you a future support call:
- Sign in on every device. The phone, tablet, work laptop, home PC — the value comes from coverage.
- Choose folders deliberately. Don't sync your entire user profile by default; pick Documents, Pictures and one or two project folders. We've seen Bonnyrigg customers fill a tiny entry tier in a week because they synced an old Steam library.
- Use selective sync (Files On-Demand in OneDrive, Smart Sync in Dropbox, "Stream files" in Drive) so cloud-only files appear in Explorer without consuming SSD space.
- Test the restore. Once a quarter, delete a small file and restore it from the cloud. If you've never tried, you don't know it works.
If a sync gets stuck or starts duplicating files (OneDrive often appends machine names to conflicted copies), our remote support team can usually fix it without you needing to come in.
Need a Hand in Edinburgh?
If you're moving to cloud storage for the first time, switching providers, or setting up a small business with shared folders, we can help. We've migrated everything from single-laptop households in Portobello to ten-seat offices in Murrayfield, and for unusual workflows our custom software development team can even tie a cloud provider into your booking system or document workflow. Book a session online and we'll get your files synced, versioned and safe.