Google Drive is a file storage service by Google. It allows users to store and share files from their server. Users can access these files from a smartphone or computer. You can store everything on Google Drive. For eg., you can store your important documents, backup files and many more. With this service, you can transfer files easily from one device to another. Also, you can share files with others too.
Google drive comes with various features. This service may be quite confusing for those users who are completely new to Google Drive and using it for the first time. No worries, this article covers some of the important topics explaining what they are and how to use them. Let’s discuss.
The Basics
Before going into all the features, let’s talk about a few basic things you need to know for using Google Drive. The first thing you need to know is that you need a Google account to use this storage service. With this account, you can access all of Google’s services including Drive, Gmail, Photos, YouTube, Play Store and so on.
You can use Drive via the web or via Android App, the choice is yours. To access the web version you can visit the site here. User can also backup files from the computer to the cloud. For this, you need to download Backup and Sync software. With the help of this software, you can access and sync your files anywhere you want. Once you download the software, go through the installation process and then you are ready to use.
Google Drive gives you 15GB storage for free when it comes to storage. If you want more space according to your requirements then you need to follow the Google Drive plan. You need to pay certain bucks according to your space requirements.
These are some of the basics things that you need to know about Google Drive. Now, let’s discuss how to use Google Drive.
How To Upload and Download Files?
Uploading Files into Google Drive is not a difficult task. There are various ways to upload files in Google Drive.
Drag & Drop
The first method of uploading file is the Drag & Drop method. Select the file you want to upload and just drag the files into the Drive interface and drop it. This method works for both single files as well as a folder.
Use Menu
The second way to upload the file is to use New Button. You need to click on the New Button situated at the top-left corner of the website. You can either select File Upload or Folder upload. Then choose the file or folder you want to upload and click Open and the uploading process begins.
Upload through your PC
Uploading your files and folder with the help of your PC is easier. You need to drag the file and folder you want to upload and drop them into the Drive folder on your PC.
Using Android Device
Uploading from your mobile is also easy. Open the Drive app, click the “+” icon situated in the bottom-right corner and select the file you want to send to the drive.
Types of files Supported by Google Drive.
Google Drive supports a tons of files including .jpeg, .jpg, .png, .gif etc. To know more about the supported file types you can click here. There are some limitations on file size. These are the documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and site size that you can store in Google Drive.
Documents: Up to 1.02 million characters. If you convert a text document to Google Docs format, it can be up to 50 MB.
Spreadsheets: Up to 5 million cells for spreadsheets that are created in or converted to Google Sheets.
Presentations: Up to 100 MB for presentations converted to Google Slides.
Google Sites (new): Up to 200,000 characters per page, 10,000 images per site, and up to 1,000 pages (max 10 million characters).
All other files: Up to 5 TB.
Google Drive is also one of the great media for transferring files from one device to another. You can upload files from your smartphone and then download them to your PC or any other device. To Download the files into your device, select a file or folder, click on the More actions icon located at the top-right corner and select Download and you are good to go.
Delete Files From Google Drive
Unnecessary Files need to be removed from the Drive. Then how to delete a file. One of the easiest ways to delete a file is to select the file or folder you want to delete and press the Delete key on your keyboard. This method works for both the web client and the Drive folder. Then, How to delete a drive document from your mobile device? To delete a file from a mobile device, tap the “More actions” icon next to the file and select the Remove option.
Sharing Files From Google Drive
Google Drive has the ability to share files with others. You can share files as well as folders. To share your documents, Select a file or folder, click on the Get shareable link icon and then copy the share link and share with the people you want. You can manage the permission through the Sharing Settings option and can enable the editing permission and send the link directly to someone’s email address.
To share the documents through your mobile device. Tap on the More actions icon and turn on the Link-sharing option. The link will be copied automatically, you need to just paste it into a messaging app and send it to a friend. Alternatively, you can tap on Add People to send the link to an email address.
Available Docs and Third-Party Apps
Google drive is connected with the Google office productivity suite which includes Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Every document you created using these office suites is automatically saved in Drive although these services have their own dedicated website. Besides these, the drive supports Google Forms, Google Drawings and many more.
You can also create a document from drives web interface which we then redirect you to the documents dedicated website. To create documents through google drive. Click on the New button in the top-left corner of the website and then select any among the Google Docs, Google Sheets, or Google Slides. If you want to create documents through your mobile then click on the “+” option and select any one from the three option. You’ll always be able to access all the created documents from your PC, mobile device, as well as the Drive folder on your computer.
Google Drive is also integrated with third-party apps including, DocHub, Pixlr Express, Draw.io, and many others. You can also store your WhatsApp older message on this cloud service.
Accessing Google Drive Offline
Google Drive has provided Offline service to its user. This means you can access your files without an internet connection. User can edit files including Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides in an Offline mode. All the changes you have made in the Drive will be automatically synchronized when an internet connection is established again.
But for using Drive Offline you have to turn on offline individually for each device. To use the offline mode you have to first go to the settings menu and enable the Offline mode. Also, you have to download an offline extension for Google Docs. But remember you have to use Google Chrome for using this service.
In the case of mobile devices, you have to open the Drive app. Tap on the More actions icon and then select Available offline.
So these are some of the services that Google Drive offers. But Google Drive is not limited within this feature, there are more. What do you think about Google Drive? If there are more features let us know in the comments.
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