With over 200 million users, Google Drive has become one of
the most popular cloud storage tools around.
When used to its fullest extent, Google Drive can truly make
work easier. The problem is most people don’t take the time to figure out ways
to improve the Google Drive experience. Lucky for you, I have decided to go to
that effort.
So... Want to know how to use Google Drive better? I have put
together a list of some tips and tactics to help anyone use Google Drive like a
pro. From the best ways to organize files to downloading add-ons for lots of
cool new features, I am going to give you everything you need to know. This
includes:
- Favorable
Features - cool features you may not know about,
- Organizing
Options - how to organize so you won’t lose anything,
- Beyond
the Browser - getting offline and mobile access,
- Excellent
Extensions - Chrome extensions that power Google Drive
- Amazing
Add-ons - programs you can add to Google Drive to get improved features!
Ok so let’s get started!
Favorable Features
Beyond file storage, sharing, and collaborative edits, Google
Drive has many awesome features baked into the software that you may not know
about.
- Send
bigger attachments in Gmail
Gmail has a size limit for attachments of 25MB, which can
often be limiting. However, you can bypass this restriction by attaching files
through Google Drive. When attaching files in your email, simply click the
Google Drive button in the New Message window and add files as large as 10GB.
- See
all changes in Revision History
One of the great thing about Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides
is that several people can edit the file simultaneously. However, it can easily
become complicated to figure out who made what change. With Revision History,
you can see the up to 30 days of file revisions with each person’s changes
showing in a unique color. You can even click ‘Show more detailed revisions’
button at the bottom to get a minute by minute view of the edits that have been
made to the document. If you don’t like some of the recent changes, you can
just click to restore an earlier version of the file. To access this view,
simply go to File -> See Revision History or use the shortcut Command +
Option + Shift + H.
- Track
changes in ‘Suggesting’ Mode
Revision history is awesome for seeing your document’s
previous edits, but what if want to track changes live in the document so you
can review and accept individual changes? Well for that, Google Docs has
‘Suggesting’ mode. In this view, all changes are tracked and next to each
change is a little window with the name of the person that made the edit and a
place to write comments. Changes made in ‘Suggesting’ mode aren’t included in
the final document without someone accepting the suggestion. In addition, you
can received emails in Gmail summarizing all the suggested changes made in your
document that day.To access this view click the ‘Editing’ button (the one with
the pencil icon in upper right corner). You’ll open a menu that lets you select
either ‘Editing’, ‘Suggesting’ (with visible tracked changes), or ‘Viewing’ (so
you can see the final document).
- Open
any file in Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides format.
Google Drive can store any type of file, but will only allow
you to make edits to Google files. However, it is simple to open a new version
of a file in the appropriate Google format and start editing right away. For
example, if someone shares a Word Document, you can open it as a Google Doc and
make changes right in Google Drive. Simply, click the file to view it in
preview and click the arrow next to ‘Open’ to view a drop down menu that lets
you select the appropriate Google format.
- Google
without opening a new tab
Have you ever been writing a document and need to leave it
to do some additional research? Well, with Google Research you don’t ever have
to leave Google Docs to do web research. Google Research is a side panel that
opens within Google Docs that allows you to search the web without opening a
new tab. You can preview the web links that come up in the search and can even
cite the source with just one click! Another great feature is the ability to
limit the search to quotes, which then can be directly added into the document.
It even allows you to search for images and drag and drop them right into your
document. To access this function simply type Command + Alt + Shift + I.
- Work
faster with keyboard shortcuts
Google Drive has many keyboard shortcuts and being familiar
with the most common ones will go a long way to making work more efficient.
Where do you find a list of these shortcuts? Just type Command + / to open up
the list. One great shortcut that is not widely known is Shift + Z that lets
you move a copy of any file to anywhere else in your Google Drive.
- Insert
links using Google search
To add a link in Google Drive, simply type Command + K.
Based on the word highlighted, Google automatically shows the top search
results for that word. What you might not realize is that right in the ‘Link’
bar you can enter a new search query. This is great if you don’t have a
specific link in mind and the results that automatically come up aren’t exactly
what you are looking for. In addition, you have the option to link to different
parts of the document.
- Copy
Multiple Items with Web Clipboard
Have you ever had to copy several parts of a document to
another? Isn’t it annoying having to constantly go back and forth? Google Drive
has solved this problem with the web clipboard, which allows you to copy
multiple items that you want to paste later. In Google Docs, you highlight the
text you want to copy to the web clipboard and go to Edit > Web Clipboard
> Clip Selection to Web Clipboard. Once you are done, you can go back to the
Web Clipboard and clear the items.
- Read
and write in any language with translation
If you want to read a file written in another language or
translate a document you have written, it is simple to do within Google Drive.
Simply click to Tools -> Translate document… There are tons of language
options to choose from Azerbaijani to Zulu. All you need to do is pick a
language and press ‘Translate’. Google Drive then automatically generates a new
document with the translated copy. Although the translations are far from
perfect, it is still an amazing start.
- Let
the computer type for you with voice typing
Another interesting option to explore is Voice Typing. Go to
Tools -> Voice Typing and a microphone pops up on the screen. Simply click
it, start speaking, and Google Voice will type in the document. You can tell it
is picking up on what you’re saying when two grey circles surround the
microphone. It is not perfect at recognizing speech, but it can generally
recognize what you say including punctuation (when you say “period” it will
type “.”) and corrects itself based on the context of your speech. Definitely a
cool tool to check out for when you’re too lazy to type.
Organizing Options
Organization is key to being able to navigate Google Drive
seamlessly, especially when you have a lot of files. Creating folders for
different categories of documents is a good start, but there are many other
things you can do to make sure you can easily find everything that you need.
- Select
multiple files quickly
In Google Drive, you can click and drag the cursor to select
multiple files at once. It makes it a lot easier to move multiple files
quickly.
- Try
before you click with preview
If you are not sure if a file is the one you want or for a
quick reminder of what’s in a file, you can use the preview button. it’s in the
menu bar at the top and looks like an eye. The preview button allows you to
take a look of what’s in the file without starting another tab. In addition,
you can select multiple files and preview them all at once, which can be a
great way to quickly look through everything in a folder.
- Create
better categories with colors and stars
Creating folders is definitely a great start to keeping
things organized in your Google Drive. However, you can assign colors to each
folder to make it easier to differentiate between them. When you open a folder,
click the drop down menu next to the name of the folder, select ‘Change color’,
and pick color to make the folder more visible. In addition, you can star your
most frequently used folders so you can access them easily. All starred files
and folders are accessible in the ‘Starred’ folder on the left side menu in
Google Drive. To star a folder, simply go to the same drop down menu and select
‘Add star’ instead of ‘Change color’.
- Take
advantage of Google Drive’s advanced search functions
The more files you add to your Google Drive, the more
difficult it can become to find the one you need. It can be especially
problematic when you can’t quite remember the name of the file. That is where
Google Drive’s advanced search function comes in. In the search bar, you can
click the arrow to open up the advanced search features. Search by file type,
owner, date modified, and more!
Beyond the Browser
Although Google Drive is known as an online cloud storage
platform, you many not realize you can use it outside of your web browser on
mobile, desktop, and even offline.
- Install
the Google Drive mobile app (and Docs, Sheets, Slides apps too) to have
access to all your files on the go!
Download the Google Drive mobile app and get access to your
files wherever you go. If you download the separate Google Docs, Sheets, and
Slides apps, you can even edit files right on your phone.
- Scan
documents to Google Drive with your phone
The mobile app allows you to upload pictures you take and
make all of the text searchable. It is a great way to quickly save paper
documents you want to review later.
- Download
on your mac or PC
In addition to the mobile app, Google also has an app for
desktop so you can synchronize your Google Drive files/folders locally. This
way your data will be kept both on your hard drive and on Google’s servers.
Google lets you download the app on multiple computers so that you can access
your files anywhere without having to open a browser.
- Set
up offline access for Chrome
Not only can you access Google Drive on your mobile or PC,
you can also access and edit your files without an internet connection. To
access and edit certain documents offline in you Google Drive go to settings
-> scroll down to offline -> check the box permitting offline editing of
Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. When you make edits in offline mode, it saves
to Google Drive as soon as you have access to the internet again.
- Send
to Google Drive (for Windows only)
If you want to add Google Drive to the “Send To” menu in
Windows, you need to do two things. The first is to install Google Drive to
your PC, as discussed above. Next, on your C: drive, head to Users >
Username > AppData > Roaming > Microsoft >Windows >SendTo. Drag
Google Drive from the Favorites bar on the left over to the SendTo window and
select Copy here. Once you do this, you can move files on your PC to Google
Drive by right-clicking and using the SendTo option.
Excellent Extensions
Chrome offers several extensions that integrate with Google
Drive, which you can find in the Google App Store by searching ‘Drive’.
Google Drive Quick Create allows you to quickly create new
Google Sheets, Docs, Forms, Presentations, and Drawings right from your
browser.
With the Save to Google Drive extension, one-click from the
browser lets you save any article or image you find to Google Drive. The one
snag is that articles are saved as .PNG or .JPG files rather than editable
documents.
Awesome Add-ons!
Add-ons are third party plugins that provide additional
features and functions to take your Google Drive to the next level. There are
tons of options that you can personalize to your own needs, but we’ve listed
some of our favorites below.
Docs
In Lucidchart Diagrams, you can create simple diagrams to be
added within Google Docs. The add-on comes up as a sidebar and when you select
‘Create’ it takes you to a new page with the application. On its simple
interface, you can add shapes, change colors, move objects around, and add
text. Once you insert the diagram, you can later change it in the Lucidchart
application and all you have do is press one button in Google Drive to have it
update in your document as well. Just go to Add-ons -> Lucidchart Diagrams
-> Update Inserted Diagrams.
For budding poets, songwriters or people who like rhyming,
the rhyme finder searches for any word that rhymes with the word highlighted.
It’s random and fun!
EasyBib is seriously the easiest way to cite sources. You
just enter the URL of the article you want to cite and EasyBib generates a
citation that you can add to end of your document. They support whatever style
of citation you use from MLA to Chicago.
Google Forms is an app that creates and analyzes surveys for
free. In Docs to Forms, you can create a Google Form based on what you have
written in a Google Doc. You can take questions you have written in a Google
Doc and then select them and pull them into the sidebar to create the Form.
Once you have everything you want, you can press ‘Create Form’ and it opens a
new tab with your Form.
With this add-on you can publish Google Docs onto your
Wordpress blog without ever leaving Google Docs. In general, it is best to save
it as a draft rather than publish as the formatting can become a little off in
the transition.
Signaturit allows you to send a document for signature right
from Google Drive. You simply open the add-on, enter the name and email address
of the recipient, and press send! The recipient will get an email and they
simply have to open the link, draw and place their signature, and send right
back. It makes getting signatures crazy easy.
The Table of Contents add-ons allows users to easily
navigate easily through large documents by creating a sidebar that lists the
table of contents for the document. Clicking on a table of contents heading
will move your cursor to that section of the document without the need to
scroll.
Sheets
Power Tools essentially makes it easier to reformat and
clean up data in Google Sheets. Features include allowing users to quickly
split cells, remove duplicates, change case, find and clean up data, and work
with formulas.
In five simple steps identify and remove all duplicates from
your sheet. It is easy and helpful, especially if you have a lot of data to
parse through.
As the name suggests, this add-on provides a highly advanced
find and replace function. You can search not only by value, but also inside
the notes and formulas. In addition, it has the capability to search between in
all the sheets in your workbook.
Merge Values is a simple tool that allows you to merge rows
with just a few clicks of the mouse. You can put the results in any column you
wish.
As you can see, there is A LOT that Google Drive can do. Now
that you know some of the key tips and tactics, you can become a power user in
no time.