Markdown notes in Google Drive or Dropbox on a Mac

Checked November 2026 against Google's help on streaming and mirroring files. Coffee isn't affiliated with Google, Dropbox or Microsoft.

If your work already lives in Google Drive, it makes sense for your notes to live there too. Markdown suits it well: a note is a small text file, so it syncs quickly, and any app on any computer can open it.

The trick is to use the drive's own Mac app, which keeps a folder of your files on the Mac, and to point your editor at that folder. Here's how that works, the one setting worth checking, and what Coffee does with it.

The Mac app does the syncing

Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive each have a Mac app that keeps a folder in step with your account. An editor that works on files, such as Coffee, just reads and writes in that folder, and the drive's app does the rest. Nothing needs to log in to Google from the editor.

That's also why the Mac app is the part you can't skip. Coffee doesn't connect to Google Drive's, Dropbox's or OneDrive's websites. With the app installed, the folder is there on the Mac, and that's all Coffee needs.

Streaming or mirroring

Google Drive for desktop has two ways to keep My Drive, and Google's help describes them:

Stream files. Files are kept mainly in the cloud and downloaded when you open them. They're only available online unless you make them available offline.
Mirror files. Files are kept on your computer and in the cloud, and are always available offline.

You switch in Drive for desktop under Settings, Preferences, Folders from Drive.

For notes, this matters more than it seems. Opening one note downloads it, but searching across all of them needs every file on the Mac. If most of your notes are still in the cloud, a search can't see what's in them yet. Either mirror My Drive, or keep streaming and mark just your notes folder available offline. Notes are small, so that takes little space.

Dropbox and OneDrive can also keep files online only until they're opened, so the same advice applies to them.

Notes in a cloud drive with Coffee

Coffee looks for the folders that cloud drive apps keep on the Mac: iCloud Drive, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Box, Synology Drive, Nextcloud and pCloud.

On the first screen, each one it finds is offered as a place for your notes.
In Settings > Library, there's a button for each, such as Use Google Drive, that moves an existing library there. For Google Drive, the Coffee folder goes inside My Drive.
Moving keeps everything. Each note's version history and comments come with it.
Offline advice. When your notes are in Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive, Settings reminds you to Control-click the Coffee folder in Finder and choose Google Drive's Available offline, Dropbox's Make available offline, or OneDrive's Always Keep on This Device, so search finds every note.

If you don't see your drive in Settings, install its Mac app and sign in there first.

Coffee has no sync service of its own. Whichever drive you pick does the syncing, and Coffee is an app working on a folder. You can also keep your main library in one place and add folders from elsewhere to the sidebar, such as a shared Dropbox folder.

Things to know

Conflicts come from the sync service. If you edit the same note on two computers before they've synced, the service may keep two copies. Coffee notices other versions when you open a note and puts them side by side. There's more in fixing conflicted copies.
Let sync finish before you switch computers. It avoids most conflicts in the first place.
One sync service per folder. Don't put a folder in Google Drive and iCloud Drive at once, or point two tools at the same files.
Your notes stay plain files. Any app that opens the folder sees ordinary .md files, readable in any text editor.

If you'd rather use iCloud Drive, syncing with iCloud Drive covers what's different there.

Questions

Can I keep Markdown notes in Google Drive?

Yes. Install Google Drive for desktop, and keep the notes in a folder in My Drive. Any editor that works on files can open them there.

Does Coffee connect to my Google account?

No. Coffee doesn't connect to Google Drive's website. It uses the folder that Google's Mac app keeps on your Mac.

Should I stream or mirror my notes?

Either works if your notes folder is available offline. Mirroring keeps every file on the Mac. With streaming, mark the notes folder available offline, so search can read every note.

Does moving my notes to Google Drive keep their history?

In Coffee, yes. Use Google Drive in Settings > Library moves the library and keeps each note's version history and comments.

Which cloud drives does Coffee find?

iCloud Drive, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Box, Synology Drive, Nextcloud and pCloud, when their Mac app is installed.

Coffee is Mac only, with macOS 15 or later. It's free for 14 days without a card, then €3 a month, €29 a year, or €79 once with two years of updates.