The cloud isn't some complicated idea that only techies can understand.
Despite its name, the cloud is simply the concept of storing and accessing your content.
Over the internet, as opposed to directly from your computer.
That's it.
So here's some of the best ways to store and access your files, folders and media online for free.
Google Drive is the one I use most primarily for work but also for personal docs and projects.
Honestly, pretty much everything I type is at least in an untitled Google Drive document.
Somewhere.
Drive offers 15 gigabytes of free storage.
Now unfortunately that's spread across all Google services, including Gmail.
So if you send a large attachment, it counts against your storage.
Now just to be clear, this is a pure cloud storage option.
It's more like.
Online office.
Not to be confused with Microsoft Office Online, of course.
Drives great.
You can pretty much store anything you want, but if you have a Google account, you already have access to it.
So you likely have some experience with it.
Now if you wanna just purely store data in the cloud, here are three services that are perfect for doing just that.
Any files you copy into your sync folder will show up in your cloud drive.
So, you'll be able to access the file from anywhere.
And even if you delete the sync files from your computer, you'll still be able to go to the Internet and access them.
Each of these services allow you to share files with anyone else through email, and each includes apps for Android and iOS.
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If you're interested in getting an initial ten gigabytes of storage for free, check out Box.
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The interface here is simple and appealing, but keep in mind, the problem with Box is that there's a 250 megabyte file size limit.
Not very large if you're planning to store audio or video, though most pics will make it through just fine.
You can upgrade to a 100 gigabyte capacity.
And increase the minimum file size to five gigabytes.
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Now Microsoft's OneDrive is useful for both Windows and Mac users, and it gives you an initial 15 gigabytes of storage capacity.
It also supports up to two gigabyte file sizes.
Also, for every friend you get to sign up, you get an extra 500 megabytes of storage.
Up to five gigabytes for a total of 20 gigabytes.
If you sync one drive with your phone's camera, you also get an extra three gigabytes in storage.
Now what's really cool is that if I download OneDrive to this computer, I can then go.
Go to another remote computer, log into my One Drive account, and then access every file on this computer regardless of whether it was synced or not.
Also, if you're willing to pay $2 per month, you get 100 gigabytes of storage.
And for $4, you get a whopping 200 gigabytes.
Pretty great deal if you need a lot of storage.
Lastly there's Dropbox.
Now this may be the popular of the Pure Cloud storage services, the reason being, it supports the most platforms including.
Linux and Blackberry.
Now right off the bat, you only get two gigabytes of storage but like one drive, each time you get a friend to join, you get an extra 500 megabytes of storage added p to a limit of 16 gigabytes.
Also, by linking your account to social media sites like Facebook or Twitter, or setting up a mailbox account, you get an extra one gigabyte for each of those.
Or enable the camera upload feature and get another three gigabytes.
So although Dropbox storage starts low, you can easily increase it at no additional cost.
And if you're using the app or desktop program, there's no file size limit.
For about $10 per month, you can upgrade to pro, which gives you 100 gigabytes of storage.
For $20.00 you'd get 200 gigabytes and for $50.00 you'd 500 gigabytes.
All these options are great for storing your data in the cloud.
Overall, OneDrive has the best features and is the best bang for your buck.
