What's in this Article
Windows Exclusive: Currently, the Canopy Virtual Drive is only available on Windows operating systems. You can download the virtual drive on a virtual machine on Macs, however, the Virtual Drive is not compatible with ARM processors such as the M1 or M2 CPU chips.
Canopy Virtual Drive allows you to interact with all of your Canopy files directly on your computer. You can drag and drop files into the Virtual Drive to upload them to Canopy, open a file in the program of your choice on your computer to edit them, or create copies of the files on your local hard drive.
Use the Canopy Virtual Drive
To use the Virtual Drive, please make sure you've Installed the Canopy Virtual Drive.
1. Open the Windows File explorer.
2. Locate the Canopy Virtual Drive in the navigation pane.
3. Navigate through Canopy Files and Folders that you have access to.
Depending on your permissions, you may navigate through Contact Files, My Files, or Internal Files using the respective folders on the Virtual Drive.
4. Drag files from your desktop to a folder on the Virtual Drive to upload the files to Canopy.
Canopy does not allow the following characters in file names: /:*?"< >.|
A Note on Folders:
New contacts cannot be created through the Virtual Drive. You can add folders within an existing contact folder, or to the Internal Files or My Files folders, but trying to add a new folder or file to the Contacts folder will result in an error.
To create clients quickly, we recommend using the Desktop Assistant's File Migration tool. To create individual clients, follow our guide to Add a Client.
5. Open a file in the program of your choice on your desktop. When you save any changes, that file automatically is updated in Canopy.
While files are being edited, they will be locked in Canopy.
6. Copy any files from the Virtual Drive to your local storage, as needed.
Navigate the Virtual Drive Information Window
The Canopy Virtual Drive application can be opened to view the information window. The information window shows updated status messages related to any Virtual Drive actions you take. You can also update the Virtual Drive from the information window, or reauthorize the drive to work with your account.
1. Search for the Canopy Virtual Drive application.
- You can complete this however you are used to. The quickest way is to press the Windows key on your keyboard and type in Canopy.
- Make sure to choose the Virtual Drive and not the desktop assistant!
- The Virtual Drive should be under the name "Canopy"
2. View any errors or status messages in the window.
3. Click Retry on an individual error after solving the error to retry the sync to Canopy.
4. Click on Canopy in the top navigation to see more app options.
- Click Sign out to disconnect from Canopy.
- Click Re-Authorize to reenter your Canopy login credentials.
- Click Open Storage Folder to view the drive in the file explorer.
- Select Check for updates to manually update the drive.
Offload and Download Documents
In the Virtual Drive, you have options to offload and download documents.
To offload and download a file:
- Right-click on a file in the Virtual Drive
- In the menu, select Canopy.
- Then choose Download or Offload.
Offloading a File
Offloading a file allows your file to be in the Virtual Drive, but not take up any space on your computer. It’s stored on the cloud.
An offloaded or non-downloaded file is designated with a white icon with a green checkmark.
Downloading a File
Downloading a file allows you access to the file even without having access to the Canopy cloud. But remember, a downloaded file takes up space on your computer!
A downloaded file is designated with a green icon with a white checkmark.
Downloading a document is like downloading your music playlist (like Awesome Mix Volumes 1 and 2) from your music streaming service before taking off on the plane. Doing this takes up space on your device, but now you can access it without having access to the service’s cloud.
When to Use Them
So when should you offload and download documents?
Well, it comes down to preference for certain files. If it’s a file you use often (songs like The Chain from Fleetwood Mac or Mr. Blue Sky from ELO), then downloading it might be better.