Proton Drive Encrypted Cloud Storage App Now Available for Mac

Swiss-based privacy startup Proton today announced the availability of its end-to-end encrypted cloud storage service for Mac users with the launch of its macOS app.

macos proton drive
Proton Drive lets users sync files between Mac and the cloud, access files offline, and free up space on local drives. Unlike iCloud, all data (including metadata) is end-to-end encrypted by default, so that no-one – not even Proton – can see the files.

Files in Proton Drive are synced on-demand, meaning they don't take up space on the local computer until they are needed. Meanwhile, files and folders saved in the Proton Drive folder automatically sync online to Proton Drive, and any changes made locally are mirrored across all other devices linked to the Proton account.

When files and folders are downloaded for offline access, Proton Drive syncs changes when an internet connection next becomes available. Users can also access and restore previous versions of files via the web interface. It's worth noting that only files stored in the Proton Drive folder are synced, but Proton says it is working to enable synchronization for any local folder.

Additional Proton Drive options can be found in the app's menu bar item, including one-click sync pausing, sync status, quick access to Proton Drive, and service support.

macos proton drive window
Web access to Proton Drive arrived last September, followed by native mobile apps in December and a Windows app in July. The arrival of the Mac app means Proton Drive is now available on all major platforms.

Proton Drive offers users 1GB of storage for free, with additional paid plans available starting at $4/month for 200GB of storage, including additional features such as the ability to automatically store previous versions of a file for up to 10 years. Black Friday deals are currently available on the company's website.

Popular Stories

iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
iOS 26 Screens

Here Are All the iOS 26 Features That Require iPhone 15 Pro or Newer

Thursday June 12, 2025 4:53 am PDT by
With iOS 26, Apple has introduced some major changes to the iPhone experience, headlined by the new Liquid Glass redesign that's available across all compatible devices. However, several of the update's features are exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models, since they rely on Apple Intelligence. The following features are powered by on-device large language models and machine...
CarPlay Liquid Glass Dark

Apple to Let iPhone Users Watch Videos on CarPlay Screen While Parked

Thursday June 12, 2025 6:16 am PDT by
Apple this week announced that iPhone users will soon be able to watch videos right on the CarPlay screen in supported vehicles. iPhone users will be able to wirelessly stream videos to the CarPlay screen using AirPlay, according to Apple. For safety reasons, video playback will only be available when the vehicle is parked, to prevent distracted driving. The connected iPhone will be able to...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

Hate iOS 26's Liquid Glass Design? Here's How to Tone It Down

Wednesday June 11, 2025 4:22 pm PDT by
iOS 26 features a whole new design material that Apple calls Liquid Glass, with a focus on transparency that lets the content on your display shine through the controls. If you're not a fan of the look, or are having trouble with readability, there is a step that you can take to make things more opaque without entirely losing out on the new look. Apple has multiple Accessibility options that ...
Mac Studio Feature

Apple Begins Selling Refurbished Mac Studio With M4 Max and M3 Ultra Chips at a Discount

Thursday June 12, 2025 10:14 am PDT by
Apple today added Mac Studio models with M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips to its online certified refurbished store in the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and many European countries, for the first time since they were released in March. As usual for refurbished Macs, prices are discounted by approximately 15% compared to the equivalent new models on Apple's online store. Note that Apple's ...
iOS 26 Feature

Apple Seeds Revised iOS 26 Developer Beta to Fix Battery Issue

Friday June 13, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with a revised version of the first iOS 26 beta for testing purposes. The update is only available for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, so if you're running iOS 26 on an iPhone 14 or earlier, you won't see the revised beta. Registered developers can download the new beta software through the Settings app on each device. The revised beta addresses an...

Top Rated Comments

5232152 Avatar
20 months ago

I don't call $48 a year for 200GB a fantastic deal.

Edited to add: I can upgrade my Sync account to 2TB for $8 / month and it is end to end. Sync is a much better option outside of Apple.

https://www.sync.com/blackfriday
Why are you comparing on size?
Proton is a double layered encrypted that is all physically stored in Switzerland away from any curious government and has no legal compliances to live up to outside the jurisdiction. They have a level of security that nobody in this world can give you. Especially not Apple, Dropbox, or Google who (of course) are under governmental oversight.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmcnick Avatar
20 months ago
Maybe I'm a fool, but I trust Apple with my Mac data and files more than I do a third party. Yes, I get I'm caught in the ecosystem, but every step taken outside of it is at the user's own risk.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
xpxp2002 Avatar
20 months ago
My understanding is that iCloud Drive (except shared files under some circumstances) becomes E2EE when Advanced Data Protection is turned on.

https://support.apple.com/guide/security/advanced-data-protection-for-icloud-sec973254c5f/web
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thefarang Avatar
20 months ago

It's a fantastic deal if you care about top level security and privacy.
It’s a fantastic deal if you think you care about top level security.

FTFY

First off, putting all of your eggs in one security basket like this is a horrible idea.

VPN, Cloud Storage, Email, Calendar, Password Manager, etc all tied to one company? Nah.

Plus, the way they lie about email security is really disgusting.

Email is not a secure protocol. It wasn’t meant to be. It likely never will be.

Pretending that because your inbox is encrypted means your communications are private is blatantly false because at least one other copy of that email exists, likely unencrypted, in the recipient’s or sender’s email.

It’s like when Paul Manafort got busted for messages he sent via WhatsApp. Everyone was like, “Did the NSA just break WhatsApp encryption?” Nope, the DOJ asked the people he sent the messages to for access to the messages and they gave it to them.

You can just as easily get an email account with Mailbox/org or Disroot or plenty of other paid (usually for half or less tha Proton’s fees) options and the only part you’re missing from Proton is the encrypted inbox.

Proton is quickly becoming exactly what many people are coming to them to get away from.

Also, their products are laughably poor. How long has it been since they announced their encrypted cloud storage with no desktop clients forcing people to upload files via a web interface? LOL.

They launched this product in Sep 2022. It took them over a year to put out a Mac client. It’s not like their timeline for Windows was much better.

They keep releasing new products like their password manager while gaping functionality holes exist in their core products like email and calendar.

It’s comically sad to read the Proton message boards full of Proton fanboys and wannabe 007’s beg for basic calendar features or sorting features in the email client while Proton keeps bundling a bunch of their third-tier products together and forcing people to pay way more than most people want to pay for products they don’t want.

Probably their scummiest move was just before they did their big rebranding and new pricing scheme, they announced to users that they could lock in their old pricing if they renewed immediately.

Then they announced their new bundles and many people discovered that they upgraded to plans with way more stuff than they wanted only to find out that they could have stayed at the same price tier and got more.

I even called them out on this before they did it. I said they weren’t charging more because they’re already the most expensive and that this was all a FOMO ploy to get people to renew early so they could collect the cash.

Their rep swore up and down that the new deals wouldn’t be a bait and switch but that’s exactly what they were and a lot of people were angry at how they used FOMO to trick people.

Proton’s management is no better than Google’s in terms of lack of transparency and manipulating their users.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple_Robert Avatar
20 months ago
The "deal" appears to bundled into an "all-in-one" services option. I don't see a way to get just the drive pricing by itself past the 200GB offering which is really overpriced. This is not a good deal. I will keep with iCloud.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thefarang Avatar
20 months ago

Prediction: In 10 years or less, probably much less, advances in artificial intelligence and supercomputing will bring to state-sponsored hacker's computer a means to break every encryption method in use today. There is no secret code that can't be broken.
So you're saying the lifetime plan is a bad deal? LOL
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)