Accessing Old Mindmup Files on Google Drive
Mindmup can no longer access files created before 2019 on Google Drive. Here’s what happened and what you need to know.
Why You Cannot Load Old Files Directly
In September 2019, Google removed the API used to manage files in the old collaborative format (called Realtime) for third-party apps like Mindmup.
- Google announced this deprecation in late 2017.
- Until July 2018, Mindmup used the Realtime format to store maps on Google Drive for collaborative editing.
- After Google removed the API, we switched to a new storage method, but we cannot access files in the old format.
- Google did not provide a replacement for accessing these old files.
Is It Possible to Recover the Data?
No. On 13 February 2020, Google confirmed that the data was “purged” and is unrecoverable, as the old storage service has been shut down. Users should no longer contact Google support about recovering these files.
Mindmup cannot assist in recovering old Google Drive data. Subscribing to Mindmup support for this purpose will not help.
Why the Data Was Not Automatically Converted
Mindmup cannot access your Google Drive files without your direct involvement — only your browser sessions have access. Because of this, automatic conversion of old files was not possible.
Why You Were Not Contacted
Mindmup does not record personal information for users accessing the app without an account. If you were using Google Drive without a Mindmup account, we had no way to contact you directly.
During the migration period, users opening affected maps received on-screen prompts to convert their contents, even without a commercial support account.
How to Avoid This in the Future
Save maps to Mindmup instead of third-party systems like Google Drive.
Mindmup storage provides full support and allows concurrent collaboration, similar to the old Google Drive collaborative maps.
If you prefer Google Drive but want to be contacted about potential data migration or support issues, use a Mindmup account, which includes email support.
Mindmup does not store data about users who save maps to Google Drive without an account, so we cannot contact them about storage issues.