Google Drive Tutorial and Features

This is Google Drive 2020 Tutorial, where I’ll tell you how to use Google Drive and highlight some of the best Google Drive features. Today, I want to give you guys a more in-depth #GoogleTips on how to use Google Drive. 

And, since we’re about in the last part of 2020, I figure now is a good time to go over some aesthetic and functionality changes and features that have happened in the last year in Google Drive. So without further ado, let’s dive into Drive.

If you’re new to Google Drive, let’s start with what is Google Drive?

Google Drive is a free cloud storage solution, that features file storing, file syncing, and sharing files across devices. So if you’ve ever created or read a Google Doc, for example, that’s all part of Google Drive ecosystem.

So there are multiple ways to access Google Drive. Now for me, I always access my drive from my Gmail or my GCal, but you can even access it from your YouTube account. And it looks the same from either spot. So here we are in the Gcal, and if you click on Google apps in the top right - the square made of dots - all your google apps will pop up, and you can click on Google Drive right from there.

Now, if you’re super new to the Google ecosystem, or you haven’t even set up Drive yet, you can also head to drive.google.com. And here, Google has provided a great overview for you on the benefits of Google Drive and you can access Drive directly from here as well.

There are Drive for teams or individuals, so for this what we are going to be focusing on your personal Google account. So you can click ‘Go to Drive’ or you can download drive if you prefer that option.

Once you click ‘Go to Drive’, you’ll either be brought directly to your Drive if you’re already signed into your Google account, or you will see a page like this asking you to sign into your Google account. And by the way, you can also create an account right from here too.

Once you’ve signed into your Google account, and you’ve opened Drive, your Drive may look a little different in the main section here depending on whether or not you have created any files. But, the basic layout with the options on the left will look the same anyway.

Changing the Google Drive Layout

If you want to change your Google Drive layout, you can do so by using the option in the top right here to switch to the list view or grid view. It's just a personal preference. Now, something I want to point out right away, you might notice My Drive shows 17GB of storage. Yours may show 15GB of storage. So 15Gigs is the standard free storage Google Drive provides and it’s a nice robust free cloud storage solution.

How to create a new file in Google Drive?

So let’s begin with how to create a new file in Google Drive. As you might be able to guess, you’d click on ‘new’ in the top left. Here, you’ll have the option to create a new folder, upload a file or folder, you can create a Google Doc, Google Sheet, or Google Slide. And then you’ll have more options underneath that, where you can create fillable forms and more.

So, if you don’t have anything in your Drive yet, a good place to start would be to create a new folder. Now, think of how you want to organize all of your files here. So for example, I have a YouTube Vids folder. This folder holds all of the YouTube scripts and some other notes regarding the YouTubeChannel.

So go ahead and create your folder. I’ll create a Client Outreach folder, and then hit create. And bam, right here, under folders, you’ll have your new folder. Now, if you are in the list view, and I’ll toggle back to show you here, you will be able to get a quick snapshot of the owner of the file when it was last modified and by who, as well as the file size.

How to upload a file in Google Drive?

So I’m going to toggle back to my grid view. So, if you want to upload a file that already exists on your computer, head back to ‘new’ and select file upload. Then, just select the file you want to upload and it’ll be added to your Drive.

Essentially any type of file can be uploaded, a video file, PDF, image file, photoshop file, on and on. Plus you can upload multiple files at once by hitting control select or command select on a Mac. Just like you can upload a file, you can upload an entire folder as well.

How to create a file from scratch in Google Drive? 

So now let's talk about how to create a file from scratch. Let’s use creating a Google Doc as an example. Now you can click on the Google Docs option, or you can hover over the arrow to the right and you’ll have the option to create a blank document or create a doc from a template.

Google Drive Templates

So timeout. Let's take a moment to talk about this awesome feature, that is Templates in Google Drive. I think templates are one of the best Google Drive Features, hands down. Let’s click on the template option. A new tab opens and you can scroll through a boatload of doc templates like resumes, letters, different types of project proposals, sales templates, legal templates, contractor agreements, and more!

So, if you’re working on a lesson plan, for example, just click that template and voila. The template is automatically opened for you to edit. And you can edit anything and everything, from the title to the text, to colors, layout, and more. And by the way, templates are available for Google Sheets, Google Slides, and more. So get in there, dig around, and use these templates to your advantage.

OK, time in. back to creating a file. We are using a doc as an example, so let’s create a new doc. Again, you’ll notice a new tab is automatically opened. Click in the title of the doc to rename it. Any changes you make on any file in Drive will be auto-save for you.

So, once you’ve created a file, you’ll want to keep everything organized in Drive. So at the top near your title, click the little folder icon, and select the folder you want to move it to. So we’ll select the test folder that I created, then click move.

Now back in my Drive tab, I can open my folder and voila, there's the doc I created. Now, another feature that allows for easy file retrieval, is the ability to star a file. That’s right at the top near your file name as well. And once you’ve starred something, it’ll be found in the starred section in Google Drive.

Now you don’t always have to open the file to move it or favorite it. So from your main Drive page, you can right-click on the file, and look at all these options you have. You can share it or make a shareable link - which I’ll go over in more detail in a bit, show a file location, move or favorite it, rename the file, copy the file, download it to your computer, delete it and more.

There are so many features available with just a right-click. Now something else you might notice is the different icons for different files. And that’s a quick visual cue that Google is showing you, without opening the file. So whether it’s a doc or a spreadsheet, a PDF, or whatever it may be.

Sharing Setting in Google Drive

Now, let’s review the Sharing Setting in Google Drive and also how to set your desired sharing permissions. Now, remember how Google provides you with a visual cue as to what you’re looking at. Well, if you have a little icon with a person in it, that means it’s shared. 

Now, there are multiple ways to share a file. You can do it from the file itself when you’re creating it, or you can do it from your main Google Drive page. So, as I told you before, you can right-click on any file to share it, or if you click to select a file on the top right of Drive, you’ll have a few options.

If you click the person icon with a plus symbol, a sharing popup appears where you can add the email addresses of those you want to share with. You can add multiple people if you want and to the right of the person you’re adding, you can set your sharing permissions here. You can allow them to view access only, the ability to comment, or the ability to edit the document just as you can.

And You can even write a little message for your collaborators too. When you’re ready to share, just click send. If you don’t want to add people directly, you can also create a shareable link. So only people with the link can view the file.

So back in your drive with the file selected, just click the link icon in the top right. And in the popup, you can copy the link as well as adjust the link-sharing permissions here too. 

So, if you’re new to sharing and collaborating with people, you’ll want to check out the other cool features of collaborating within Google Drive like viewing and attending to comments, and the ability to see a complete revision history of your file. 

Search Feature in Google Drive

Once you have a lot of files in your drive, you’ll want to easily pull them all up. So, at the top of your Drive, you have a search bar. Type in whatever it is you’re looking for and voila, it’ll appear. 

Closing Comment

That’s it now for this writing of tutorial about Google Drive. We’ll have another blog on some other features of Google Drive as well.