Google Drive Keeps Disconnecting

If your Google Drive for Desktop keeps disconnecting, you will see notifications like “Account Disconnected”, “Sign in again to continue syncing”, or the application menu icon greyed out. This breaks the sync pipeline and stops changes from reaching the cloud.

This guide helps you resolve persistent sign-out issues and network disconnect loops on both Windows and macOS.

1. Understand Why Google Drive Keeps Disconnecting

Google Drive client disconnects are typically triggered by:

• Expired OAuth Security Tokens: Google Drive uses security tokens to maintain your session. If you change your Google account password, revoke app access from your Google account settings, or if the server invalidates the tokens, the client will constantly disconnect.
• DNS Resolution Drops: If your router or ISP experiences brief DNS resolution dropouts, the Drive client loses connection to Google’s real-time sync servers and goes offline.
• Power Management Interruption: Operating systems sometimes put network cards (NICs) or USB Wi-Fi adapters into low-power mode, dropping persistent WebSocket connections.
• VPN or Proxy Conflicts: Corporate VPN tunnels or security proxies that filter SSL/TLS traffic can terminate long-running HTTPS requests utilized by DriveFS.

2. Perform Account Reconnection and Client Updates

Before applying command-line fixes, clean up the application session state:

Step 1: Disconnect and Reconnect Your Account

1. Click the Google Drive icon in the taskbar or menu bar.
2. Click the Gear icon (Settings) → Preferences.
3. Click the Gear icon inside the preferences panel.
4. Click Disconnect account and confirm.
5. Restart your computer.
6. Open Google Drive and click Sign in. Complete the browser-based authorization.

Step 2: Download the Latest Client Release

Old versions of Google Drive are periodically blocked from connecting to Google API endpoints. Download and reinstall the latest desktop package from Google Drive Download Page.

Step 1: Force Close Google Drive

taskkill /f /im googlepackagedexe.exe

Step 2: Disable Power Management Sleep on Network Adapters

1. Press Windows Key + X and select Device Manager.
2. Expand Network adapters.
3. Right-click your active Ethernet or Wi-Fi adapter and select Properties.
4. Navigate to the Power Management tab.
5. Uncheck Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power, then click OK.

Step 3: Reset TCP/IP and Flush DNS Cache

1. Open Command Prompt (Admin).
2. Execute the following commands to purge invalid routing entries and clean up cached hosts:

   netsh winsock reset
   netsh int ip reset
   ipconfig /release
   ipconfig /renew
   ipconfig /flushdns

3. Restart your PC and run Google Drive.

Step 1: Terminate the Application

Open Terminal and kill the Google Drive daemon:

killall "Google Drive"

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

Step 3: Remove Stale DriveFS Cache Databases

Corrupted credentials databases will force disconnects even if the network is stable:

1. Delete the local cache folder in terminal:

   rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Google/DriveFS

2. Relaunch Google Drive. This prompts a clean authentication request and generates a fresh database structure.

5. Summary Checklist for Disconnection Issues