We never know when our electronic devices such as smartphones and laptops fail to work. Imagine a situation where you had saved a crucial Word file and the PC fried next morning due to a power fluctuation. You will probably call a technician, remove the hard drive and try to retrieve the file. The whole recovery process will become complicated and tedious. You can simply avoid tension if you had saved the file inside cloud storage providers such as pCloud. You can easily fetch the file from the cloud using any device. In this review, we will examine the working of PCloud cloud storage in detail.
The beauty of pCloud Drive service is that your work will not be interrupted if you had stored the files inside your account even if your current working PC gets damaged. You can share the stored files with your friends and colleagues. The cloud storage is safe for transmitting confidential documents because pCloud comes with unbeatable encryption technologies. The company provides pCloud Crypto for a fixed charge for lifetime and can be topped up above your main cloud account, which offers an extra layer of improved protection.
Working with pCloud
We signed up for pCloud free package for the purpose of this review. The home page provides relevant options for creating a new account. You can also make use of Apple, Facebook, and Google authentication.
You can select the data location during the registration process. The beauty of pCloud is the simplified registration involving only email address and password. You will be prompted to download pCloud Drive after registration. However, this step is not compulsory and you still will be able to upload files from the web interface of the cloud storage platform. The advantage of pCloud Drive app is that you can directly drop files/folders without navigating to the web interface.
The download starts immediately and you will have to verify email address to enjoy the full benefits of pCloud.
verify email
You can either verify email address by selecting the button or manually by navigating to email client. The product team has provided helpful articles including steps required to install pCloud Drive app, which will be useful for beginners. You can continue to pCloud web interface directly by selecting the relevant link. The pCloud web interface looks as shown below
Your pCloud storage space will increase as you complete each step displayed on the dashboard. The first step is to verify the email account and after that, the storage space will increase to 3GB. The screen will appear as shown below
The next step is to upload a file, which will unlock another 1GB of storage.
You will view Upload Manager and you have to locate a file from your device. We uploaded an image and the whole process finished pretty quickly. We are amazed with the speed of the cloud engine. If you download pCloud Drive, you will unlock another 1GB storage. You have to download, install, and login with the credentials to increase the storage.
The remaining steps involve installing pCloud on your smartphone by downloading the relevant app. You have to download and install pCloud Drive for Android and iOS.
With pCloud Drive, you can activate automated uploads. This means all your photos and videos will be uploaded to pCloud as a backup measure. You have to open pCloud app and activate Automatic Upload from the Settings. An additional 1GB each will be available upon inviting friends and family.
If you complete all these steps, then will receive 10GB cloud storage space where you can preserve all the crucial files and data. This will be sufficient for students, beginners, and senior citizens. If you are a hard-core tech geek, then you should purchase a paid plan.
Let’s examine the actual working of pCloud Drive web and desktop apps.
Working with pCloud Drive Web
The pCloud Drive web dashboard looks like as shown below after login.
The left side displays the navigation panel, while the right side comprises of list of files and folders you have uploaded.
A core feature of pCloud Drive, which stands apart from competing cloud storage providers is that you will be able to preview the file just by clicking on the relevant file name. You can even read PDF file on the cloud without opening including the ability to share the file with your friends.
Let’s begin by uploading files by selecting “Upload” button located above the file list. The Upload Manager placed on the bottom right-hand side pops up. You can create a new folder by selecting “+” icon located adjacent to Upload button.
The next step is to locate the files that need to be uploaded by selecting “Browse For Files” button. However, you should select option such as File Upload, Folder Upload, or Remote Upload. We selected a folder and a message box appears on the screen.
You have to confirm the folder upload by selecting “Upload” button. A progress bar displays as shown below
The uploaded files will appear inside the Completed panel along with the count as shown below
We uploaded a folder with 15 files and all of them uploaded so quickly within seconds. You will not be able to enjoy this experience with other competing cloud storage providers. The uploaded folder will appear on the dashboard. You can also upload files directly by selecting “File Upload” option. The Upload Manager is very handy tool and it sits quietly on the lower right-hand side of the dashboard. Let’s examine the functioning of pCloud for Windows.
Working with pCloud for Windows
To work with pCloud directly from Windows 11, you should download the pCloud for Windows app and complete the installation process. We observed that the app installation took time mainly because of the older system configuration. If you work with the latest PC, then the installation will be quicker.
The pCloud for Windows app will display a welcome screen and you have to go through them.
We captured a screenshot for the above image and the app prompted us to save the screenshot on the cloud. The screenshots will be saved inside Screenshots folder and this is a great way to store all your precious visuals. The app will prompt you to share with friends including an option to purchase 500GB storage at a discounted price. The pCloud Drive app displays the following dialog.
You can close the above dialog but can be opened again by selecting “Preferences” option by right-clicking on the pCloud icon from the Taskbar.
pCloud will automatically create a new virtual drive inside your hard drive. You have to copy the files/folder inside pCloud Drive (P:), which can be located from the left side navigation panel on the File Explorer.
You will view the existing folders on the right-hand side if you select the option. You can also directly create a new folder inside pCloud Drive or save new files directly inside the folder. The relevant file/folder will be automatically synced and will be available on all devices. You will be familiar with the usage if you had worked with Microsoft OneDrive, DropBox, Box, and Mega cloud hosting providers.
The files will be uploaded immediately after you drop inside the pCloud drive from within File Explorer. You will be able to view the uploading progress by selecting pCloud app from the Taskbar as shown below.
We uploaded a file with 256MB capacity and the uploading process looks as shown below. The time required to complete the uploading depends upon the total capacity of the file.
We found it easy to work with Windows app since you only need to drop the file(s) or folder(s) that you would like to backup. You have to install pCloud Android app if you would like to backup files from your Android device.
pCloud Pricing
pCloud provides free cloud storage up to 10GB, which is sufficient for storing all your personal files. The company offers Individual, Family, and Business plans via both annual and lifetime payment modes with special features. The Premium 500GB is priced at USD 199, while the Premium Plus 2TB is up for grabs for USD 399 one-time payment. You need not have to pay again and again. The company also provides custom plan 10TB for USD 1190, which will be useful only if you have plenty of files and folders.
The company is currently running extended Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale. You will get 2TB lifetime storage with encryption for USD 399. Moreover, you can also purchase Premium 500GB storage plan for only USD 199. pCloud also provides a custom plan for enterprise customers.
The pCloud Family plan comes with 2TB and 10TB capacities with USD 595 and USD 1499 respectively. The Business Pro plan will be suitable for enterprise companies and is charged at USD 15.98 per user/month. You will have to pay more if you opt for monthly packages. Hence, the lifetime payment will give protection against a potential price increase in the future. There is no need to worry because pCloud is an established company since 2013.
Conclusion
pCloud is an emerging and productive cloud storage platform with plenty of features. The company also provides a dedicated Windows app using which you can upload content directly from your computer. You can pause uploading by selecting the relevant option from the pCloud Taskbar icon. The web interface and desktop app work well smoothly without any lags. The company provides 500GB and 2TB storage capacities at a one-time price for a limited time. We highly recommend pCloud because it’s an incredible solution for all your cloud storage requirements.
pCloud
USD 399 (2TB)
Pros
- Simple registration
- Perfect user interface
- Light-weight Windows app
- Drag & drop files/folders
- Quick processing
- Reliable company
- Encrypted & Secured
Cons
- None
