MacOS – Is there a way to limit the bandwidth that Google Drive File Stream uses

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Is there a way to limit the bandwidth that Google Drive File Stream uses?

I'm using a Mac and when I resume syncing, the Internet becomes unusable. I have to stop syncing to browse simple web pages!

Best Answer

  • Because Drive File Stream has been updated with a graphical options menu since 2018, changing the upload and download bandwidth limits using defaults is no longer necessary. I'm leaving my original post here, but note that using defaults improperly can break your application settings at best and probably break your computer at worst.

    However, if you know what you're doing, changing your Google Drive settings using the command line might be a neat parlor trick to show your friends.

    *** THE FOLLOWING IS NO LONGER RELEVANT ***

    Please use the regular options menu - it exists now.

    I am guessing you are using Drive File Stream instead of the now-depreciated Google Drive application. For Drive File Stream, there currently is no graphical options menu. However, this page from Google outlines how settings can still be changed using the defaults shell command.

    In order to limit download bandwidth to 100 Kilobytes/second, open Terminal and enter the following command:

    defaults write com.google.drivefs.settings BandwidthRxKBPS -int 100

    The 100 can be changed to any integer value you choose, and note that the value is in kiloBYTES and not kiloBITS.

    To set the value for upload speed, use the following command:

    defaults write com.google.drivefs.settings BandwidthTxKBPS -int 100

    In order to change all settings back to their default, you can use this command:

    defaults delete com.google.drivefs.settings

    Hope this helps! Comment with any questions you have.

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