Fun fact: Google Drive was only launched six years ago, but you probably have no recollection of life before it.
You’re not alone: the file storage service has over 800 million monthly active users and over three billion files uploaded daily. And, as you already know, it’s a fantastic tool for keeping organized.
These tips will help you handle your documents better—and faster—even if you only have a few hundred.
1. Use Search to Quickly Locate Files
Instead of sifting through all of your Google Drive files, use the options in the search bar to find just what you’re looking for. No more arriving late to meetings because you forgot where your presentation was filed.
2. Make it easy for others to see your work.
Do you want to make your text, presentation, or spreadsheet public? Simply select file > publish to the web to generate a public connection that you can share with anyone.
Bonus: Any updates you make to your document in Google Drive are automatically updated online.
3. Keep track of your inbox edits
Google Drive’s strongest feature is that it allows you to add notes, feedback, and email addresses to files you share with your team. And, if you want to receive email alerts for these updates, you can stay on top of any changes to your documents without having to open the app.
4. Save Information Directly From the Web
The Save to Google Drive Chrome update, as the name implies, allows you to save documents, photos, audio, videos, and more directly from a web page to your preferred Google Drive folder. It’s especially useful for those otherwise difficult full-page screenshots!
5. Extract Text from Photographs
Don’t waste time retyping text from PDFs or copying photos. Automatic optical character recognition is available in Google Drive’s choice to open them with Google Docs. This means you’ll get a folder with both the original file and the text from it in a matter of seconds, ready to format and use anywhere you need it.
6. Easily Access Microsoft Documents by Converting to Google Docs
Office Documents, Sheets, and Slides Editing When anyone gives you a Word doc or an Excel spreadsheet, the Chrome extension comes in handy. Google Drive converts the file to Google’s format with a few taps, so you don’t have to purchase yet another application for your device.
7.Make Long Links Shorter
With the URL Shortener Add-on, you can tidy up those long (and not-so-lovely) Google Doc URLs.
8. Talk to your coworkers while working on a document
If you’re working on the same Google Drive document as someone else, you can chat in real time to ask questions, share ideas, or talk things over. And, if you need to turn to another tool for a few minutes, new chat messages are shown in the browser tab.
9. Sync and Backup Your Files on Any Computer
Google’s Backup and Sync feature lets you automatically transfer and store files from your computer (along with any changes you create, of course) so you can access them from any device that has Google Drive. This is a perfect way to make one of those backup copies of your data that you should have.
10. Color-Coordinate Your Files for a Cleaner Look
Do you need to locate specific Google Drive files quickly? Set the colour for them to something noticeable so you can find it quickly.
11. Use shortcuts to save time and effort.
Google Drive has a comprehensive collection of keyboard shortcuts that will save you time and clicks. And pressing the “Ctrl” and “/” keys on a Chromebook or Windows screen, or “Cmd” and “/” on a Mac, puts them right at your fingertips.
With these tips and tricks, you’ll save time and discover better ways to function. And, if Google Drive isn’t yet your digital must-have, give it a shot anyway; you could fall in love with all the ways it streamlines and speeds up your online tasks.
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