Are you exploring new tools for your projects and came across Google Drive, but don’t know exactly what it’s for? you’ve come to the right place!
We know that, among so many things to do, sometimes we would like to have everything in one place, and be able to work collaboratively as a team from a distance, in an orderly, strategic and secure way.
You can do all this and more in Google Drive online and Google Drive for PC, Google’s amazing cloud-based creation that allows you to create, share, work together in real time, save and access files more easily from wherever and whenever you want.
Stay with us, because here we explain what Google Drive is, what it’s for and how it works, so you can get the most out of it. discover one of Google’s tools that will help you with your business, work or personal projects.
let’s get started!
what is Google Drive?
Before knowing what Google Drive is for, you should know what we are talking about; that is, what Google Drive is.
In a nutshell, Google Drive is a centralized storage service. it works like a Windows Office or Open Office package, but online. It integrates with other Google services and systems such as Gmail, Android, Chrome, YouTube, Google Analytics and Google.
Google Drive’s main competitors are Microsoft OneDrive, Apple iCloud, Box, Dropbox and SugarSync.
By default, Google Drive gives you your first 15 GB of space for free, a good space considering that the average cell phone space is between 32 and 64 GB
The 15 GB we have in this account is shared between three applications: Google Drive (file storage), Gmail (email) and Google Photos (photo gallery). If you exceed that limit or need more space, you will have to pay for a plan with more storage capacity in the cloud.
Google Drive on the cell phone or computer gives you the same functions, so choose the one that works best for you.
what is Google Drive for?
Now, what are all these wonderful Google Drive tools for? I’ll explain what features Google Drive has and how they will be of great use to you.
For common users, work teams and companies, Google Drive serves to:
Create, save, produce and modify files (documents / photos / videos / forms) online.
Use the word processor, spreadsheets, and Google’s presentation canva, among other cloud-native applications.
Share files and access them from any mobile device (iOS or Android), tablet or computer.
Work online with multiple users in real time on the same document.
Use Apps for Work that offer corporate mail, online storage, synchronization of shared agendas, video meetings and other solutions.
Work offline.
Store, view, search and sort files for free.
Automatically save all updates to a document with the ability to access the latest version from anywhere.
Record every modification (when, how and by whom).
Thanks to its synchronization, Google Drive serves to have a copy of your data on the Web. no matter if you change your cell phone or computer, you will always find them where you left them. Your account is personal, private and very secure.
Finally, Google Drive serves to protect important data or arrays with its Google Workspace service (formerly known as G Suite) and with the Data Loss Prevention (DLP), eDiscovery and archiving with Vault and Security Center.
how do I use Google Drive?
Now that we’ve seen what Google Drive is and what it’s for, you may be wondering how to use Google Drive or how to log in to Drive.
1. Sign in to Google Drive
Ok, the first thing you have to learn is how to sign in to Google Drive (Google Drive sign in), then get to know its interface, upload your first content and share it.
Sign in to Google Drive from the computer: let’s see how to sign in to Google Drive from a computer with an internet connection. the easiest way is to go directly to drive.google.com from your preferred browser:
At the top you select the <Go to Drive> option, and immediately the system will ask you to enter a Gmail email.
Source: screenshot
Once you do so, you will enter the Google Drive interface.
Source: screenshot
Another handy way to access Google Drive is through your Gmail inbox. At the top you will find the Google Apps nine dots icon. When you deploy it, you just have to locate the Drive icon. and that’s it!
Source: screenshot
On the other hand, there is also the possibility of downloading Google for PC.
Log in to Google Drive from a cell phone: to log in to Google Drive from a cell phone you just have to go to the Google Drive mobile app on your phone, which is usually within the Google Apps package that comes installed by default on both Android and iOS.
Source: screenshot
In the unlikely event that Drive is not on your phone, you can download Google Drive from the App Store or Play Store.
2. Get to know the Google Drive interface
The central part of Google Drive is your desktop of files and tasks, where you can organize all your projects as you please. This part or session is called <My Drive>, and you can locate it first in the menu on the right, where we also find other sessions with which you can interact:
Computers
Shared with you
Recent
Featured
Trash
Source: capture
2. Upload your first file to Google Drive
It’s time to show you how to upload files to Google Drive. Let’s say you want to upload your presentation templates with important dates to the cloud. To do this, you need to press the <New> button, which displays a list of options:
Upload file
Upload folder
Create a Word document
Create an Excel document
Create a PowerPoint presentation
Create a form
Create a Google drawing
Google My Maps
Google Sites
Google Apps Scrip
Google Jamboard
Screen Recorder
And, a little further down, you can see the storage bar used.
Source: screenshot
In this case, we are going to select <Upload file> and, as a next step, we browse our computer for the file we want to upload.
Source: screenshot
We hit <Open>, and immediately the file will start uploading to Google Drive. Once it does, you will be able to work with your file in the cloud:
Source: screenshot
An easier way to upload files is by dragging them from the storage location to your Drive.
3. Organize everything in folders
Google Drive can also be used to upload entire folders of files. the process is exactly the same: click on <New> and then on the <Upload folder> option, only that, additionally, it will launch a pop-up window asking you if you want to upload the file (as shown in the image).
Source: screenshot
You hit <Upload>, and that’s it, you know how to upload a folder to Google Drive.
At this point it is important for you to know that to have Drive organized you must use folders. so, apart from learning how to upload, you must also learn how to create folders in Google Drive: you can do it through the <New> button, or by deploying the right-click menu on your task space, in the <New Folder> option, as shown in the following image:
Source: screenshot
You will then be prompted to name the file. For our example, we open a folder to store the statistical reports of our business that we learned to do with the Google Analytics courses.
Source: screenshot
4. Manage your files in the cloud
Now we will show you how you can manage your files within the Google Drive cloud. if you right click on any item, you can see the options you have to work with it. Here are some of them:
Preview: for text files, it allows you to see a preview of your file, without being able to edit.
Open with
Share and get share link: with either option, we can allow other people to view or edit our files.
Move to
Available offline
Add to Featured: files with this option enabled will always appear in the <Highlighted> section of our right menu.
Rename
View details: shows you the most important properties of your files: type, size, last modification, etc.
Make a copy
Report misuse
Download
Delete: if we delete a file from Google Drive, it will go directly to the <Trash> section of our right menu bar.
Source: screenshot
5. Get the most out of Google Docs in Google Drive
In Google Drive we can create text files from the <New> button in the Google Docs section. To create these documents it is not necessary to have any program installed, since Google offers us its own editor, which is also free.
In the case of a Word file in Drive, for example, the use is very similar to Microsoft Word. You can choose between a preset template or create a blank document .
Source: screenshot
Once you are done editing your file, there is no need to save it, as Google Drive has a continuous auto-save. the best thing is that you can download the document in any file type you want.
You can also create spreadsheets or presentations, which are like Excel or PowerPoint, but with fewer options, although free.
6. Share files from Google Drive
If you want to share files from Google Drive with your work team, you just have to look for the share option and provide the email of the person you want to have access, to which, in addition, you can give different roles:
Reader
Commentator
Editor
Source: screenshot
If there are many participants and you do not want to enter mail by mail, there is also the possibility to open a general link with a specific role. this way, by spreading this link, everyone who has the link can access the document.
Source: screenshot
If you want to share a folder in Google Drive, the process is similar, just select it and place the share symbol at the top of the task space of your drive.
Source: screenshot
Now that you know what Google Drive is, what it is for and how it works, tell us what advantages and disadvantages of Google Drive you identified: would you incorporate another function?
We are sure that with this tool you will be able to optimize your digital projects with your team, in addition to securing them in the cloud to avoid any loss of information.
Keep exploring the great services provided by Google to optimize your digital work, such as Google AdSense, with which you will learn to make a living from creating content, or Google crawler, which helps you improve your SEO positioning in search engines.