Cloud Sync: Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox as an extension of your studio
Narraya's Cloud Sync syncs your chapters in DOCX with Google Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox. An extension of your studio, not an exile of your data.
A writer who takes their novel seriously doesn't want to depend on a single system. It's a healthy principle, and Narraya respects it. Your book is yours, and it should be able to exist outside of us too: in a folder of your Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox — wherever you want, however you want. Cloud Sync is exactly for that.
An extension of the studio, not an exile
Watch the nuance: Cloud Sync is not a "safety backup" — we already do those behind the scenes, daily. It's something different. It's the ability to always keep a copy of your chapters in a standard format (DOCX) in a folder of your own cloud, so you can open, modify, and share them offline or from another device where Narraya isn't installed.
The right metaphor is a studio that extends beyond its walls. The heart of your work stays at Narraya, but you have a living replica of the manuscript in the cloud you use daily. Not an exile of your data, not a delegation: an extension.
Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox
| Provider | Format | Sync direction | Granularity | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Drive | DOCX | Bidirectional | One folder per book | Editing in Google Docs after conversion |
| OneDrive | DOCX | Bidirectional | One folder per book | Direct editing in Word online |
| Dropbox | DOCX | From Narraya to cloud (read-only toward us) | One folder per book | Excellent backup, external editing to be managed |
The "sync direction" difference matters. For Drive and OneDrive, if you modify a chapter in the cloud, the modification can come back into Narraya (with confirmation: nothing enters without your yes). For Dropbox, the sync is one-way — Narraya writes, Dropbox stores. We made that choice for precise technical reasons: Dropbox's protocol doesn't guarantee certain integrity checks that are non-negotiable for us when writing a chapter.
Connecting Google Drive in four steps
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Open the book settings.
From the book page, select "Integrations" in the side menu.
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Activate Cloud Sync → Google Drive.
One click opens the OAuth flow: log in with your Google account and grant Narraya authorization to manage a dedicated folder.
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Choose or create the folder.
Narraya suggests creating a "Narraya / [Book name]" folder in your Drive. You can accept or pick an existing folder.
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Start the first sync.
Narraya exports all chapters as DOCX to the chosen folder. Subsequent syncs are incremental: one chapter changes, one file changes.
If you travel or work in a zone without connectivity, download the synced folder to your laptop (via the Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox app). You can open the DOCX files in any offline editor, modify them, and on return the changes will go back to Narraya (for Drive and OneDrive) or stay local as a parallel version (Dropbox).
If you modify a chapter in two places at once (in Narraya and in Google Docs, for example) you risk a conflict. Narraya warns you before overwriting, but the golden rule is: at any given moment, decide where you're writing. For your novel's consistency, the source of truth — when in doubt — is Narraya: narrative memory, sheets, relationships live there. The cloud is an extension, not a substitute.
When Cloud Sync is really useful
- If you work on multiple devices and sometimes don't have access to Narraya (someone else's computer, tablet without a dedicated app).
- If you need to hand a chapter to a proofreader who only uses Word and doesn't want to register.
- If you want additional redundancy beyond Narraya's backups — the feeling "I have a physical copy in my cloud" is valuable.
- If you share the computer with others and prefer to keep a copy of the manuscript in your personal space.
When you can do without it
If you always work from the same device, have a stable connection, and trust Narraya's automatic backups, Cloud Sync is a convenient option but not indispensable. It's a further reassurance, not a necessity. Many writers activate it only as the book nears completion, and depending on a single tool begins to feel excessive.
In this trade, one thing has to be said clearly: no platform, not even ours, deserves absolute trust. A sync system with your own cloud is a form of prudence we encourage. We work to be useful to you; we don't claim to be indispensable.
Cloud Sync is available in plans starting from Starter. See the pricing page to find out which one includes the integration with your cloud.