Instant Google Drive Starter

From here, you can start typing into your new document. You can insert images and tables, change text formatting, and define and apply styles—all the things you expect to be able to do in a word processing program. The same applies to using the other built-in programs including spreadsheets, presentations, and drawings.

There are many things you usually do in Google Drive (using the toolbar and the Context menu) that, if you prefer, you can do from inside the Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides program. We've just seen how you can rename your document, but you can also share, star, organize, add comments, and print. For example, starring and organizing can be done with the icons to the right-hand side of the filename, and sharing can be accessed under the File menu or by clicking the Share button in the upper-right corner.

When using any of the built-in Google Drive programs, there is no need to manually click on Save. Instead, saving is automatic and happens continuously in the background, while you type.

We've seen that with Google Drive, you can share your documents with other people. One of the biggest benefits of the built-in Google Drive programs is that people with whom you share that document can all edit the document at the same time. There is only one copy of the document, so we don't need to worry about e-mailing revisions back and forth, or overwriting, or having to merge someone else's changes. With the real-time collaboration feature built into Google Drive, multiple people can edit a document simultaneously and their changes are all automatically merged and saved in the background as they type.

Let's run through a quick example for uploading individual files.

Read on to learn how to monitor the progress of your file upload.

Once your upload has started, a pop-up window will appear in the bottom-right side of the Google Drive user interface, called the upload progress window.

Using this pop-up window, you can:

You can also upload files using drag-and-drop, which is the easiest way to upload files. To do so, simply select one or more files on your computer, drag them into the Files list area of the Google Drive user interface, and drop (release the mouse button).

This will start your upload just as if you had selected the files using the upload menu, and you'll be able to monitor the upload with the upload progress window described previously.

You can set certain upload-related options using the upload settings menu. This menu is accessed by clicking on Settings in the top-left corner of the upload pop up:

There are three main options in this menu:

In addition to individual files, you can also upload entire folders at once. This is a great way to upload large amounts of files into Google Drive with just a few clicks. When you upload a folder, all "subfolders" within that folder, and all folders within each subfolder, and so on are uploaded.

Note that uploading folders works a little differently when using Google Chrome versus other browsers. This example uses Google Chrome; using the Folder Upload feature in Firefox and Internet Explorer is discussed in the next section.

To upload a folder, follow the ensuing steps:

In Google Drive, just like on your hard drive, you have a certain amount of space that you can use for storing files. You get a fixed amount of storage for free, and you can purchase additional storage at any point in time.

The amount of storage you're using, and the total amount of storage you have available can be seen in the upload menu:

This storage information is also displayed at the bottom of the Navigation panel.

This shows you how much space you have available in Google Drive, and how much of it you're currently using. If you have reached your storage limit, you will not be able to upload files. Purchasing more storage can be done with the Buy more storage… link.

Viewing, editing, or downloading your files in Google Drive is only a click away. Here's a quick overview:

The Google Drive Viewer is a built-in program that offers a rich preview when opening files that are not Google documents, spreadsheets, or presentations. For example, images, videos, and PDF files will all be opened with the Google Drive Viewer.

In addition to offering a rich preview of your photo, video, PDF, or other file types the Google Drive Viewer also gives you access to many of the functions you normally do in Google Drive. For example, using the File menu at the top, you can share, rename, star, organize, download, and edit the description of your file. You can even add comments to a file for you and people with whom you've shared the file with to see.

With Google Drive, you can create a folder structure that can be as simple or elaborate as you like. The following steps will show you how to create a new folder:

You can also move existing files into a particular folder. There are two main ways to move files into folders. You can use the Organize screen, or you can use drag-and-drop. To use the Organize screen:

An even simpler option compared to using the Organize screen is using drag-and-drop to move your files into folders. To move one or more files into folders using drag-and-drop:

Sometimes, you'll be done with a file and will no longer want it in Google Drive. Fortunately, deleting one or more files from Google Drive is easy. To do so:

You can perform a full text search by searching for one or more words. When you run such a search, results are returned based on one or more of your search terms matching any of the three fields given next:

To start searching, simply type in your search keyword in the search box. In this example, we're searching for the keyword holiday. As you type, note that some search results will pop up instantly underneath your search query. These "instant results" represent only a partial set of search results. Often, what you're looking for will pop up in the "instant results", and you can then click on an item to open it directly.

To fully run your search and see all search results, type in your search query and then press Enter or click on the blue search button on the right-hand side. This will perform a full search, returning results based on not only the file's title, but also the text content of that file.

In this example, searching for holiday returned matches based on both the filename and the file's text contents. For example, the word holiday appears in the text of the Google Docs document Year-end letter, and so it shows up in the search results. Note that text from PDF files is also searchable.

From these search results, you can open the resulting file by clicking on it. You can also perform any other functions you're used to by selecting the document and using the toolbar, or by right-clicking the file to bring up the Context menu.

Another way to search for files is to use one or more predefined criteria, called filters. To get started, first open the advanced search options by clicking on the small arrow in the right-hand side of the search box (circled in the following screenshot):

Here are some of the general categories of things you can filter by:

As an example, let's say you want to see a list of all your PDF files in Google Drive. Simply open up the advanced search options, and choose PDF files. A small filter chip will appear to indicate the criteria that you're filtering on (here, PDF files), and the matching search results will be shown. In this example, the search results are all PDF files in Google Drive (no matter what folder they're in):

From here, you can select and perform specific file operations on one of your search results. Or if you are done, you can click on the X in the search box to clear the search results and return to where you were.

You can also search by keyword and one or more filters, all at the same time. First, select one or more filters in the advanced search options. In this example, we have selected Images. This will return all the images in Google Drive.

You can further narrow down these results by searching by keyword. Simply type in your search query to the right of the existing chip (here, it says Images). In this example we have searched for naiya. This combination search will show you all images that have the word naiya in the title. (Note that searches are not case-sensitive.)

With the ability to search by keyword, filter criteria, or a combination of both, you should have no trouble quickly finding files that you're looking for in Google Drive.

Searching for files shared with you by another person is easy in Google Drive. Simply type in the user's name or e-mail address, and their name will appear in the drop-down list of "instant" results shown previously. Click on their name, and this will search for all files in Google Drive shared with you by that person.

The Sharing settings screen is where you can view and change all sharing permissions associated with a file that you own. To open the Sharing settings screen, select one or more files or folders, and then click on the Share button in the toolbar.

The Sharing settings screen has seven main parts, given as follows:

Visibility options

Every file has one single level of visibility that applies to the file broadly, regardless of specific individuals with whom you have shared the file. By default, this visibility level is Private, and only specific people who you have shared the file with can access it. But if you like, you can change this to be more widely shared.

To change the overall visibility of a file, click on the Change… link to the right-hand side of the first entry under Who has access in the Sharing settings screen. This will bring up the Visibility options screen as shown in the following screenshot:

There are three main visibility options you can choose from:

• Private: The file is private and visible only to you and to the people with whom you explicitly share the file. These people will each appear as sharing recipients in the Who has access section. If they're not listed here, they don't have access. Use this option when you only want certain people to be able to access your file.

• Anyone with the link: Anyone who has received the link to this file can access it. The link to the file is the "Link to share" at the top of the Sharing settings screen, and this link is initially made available only to you. Anyone who you send this link to will be able to access the file. This is a good option to choose when you want the file to be easily accessed by a large number of people; for example, you could send the link out to an e-mail list for a group project.

• Public on the Web: Anyone on the Internet can find and access the file. The file can show up in search results, and anyone who knows the Web address of the file will be able to access it. Choose this setting when you want your file to be discoverable and accessible by everyone. They do not need to be signed into a Google account. This is a good option if you want to publish the link to your file on a website and have everyone easily access the file.

If you choose Private, you will be able to specify the access level (permission) for each person. If you choose either Anyone with the link or Public on the Web, you can also choose the access level, but it will apply to anyone accessing the document with those two visibility options. For example, you may want to give viewing permissions to anyone on the Web using the Public on the Web option. In this case, you could also give editing permissions to specific additional people with whom you explicitly share the file in the sharing recipients list.

Basic file sharing is simple and can be done with just a few steps:

At this point, an e-mail will be sent to each of the newly added sharing recipients, with your message and a link to the document.

Your sharing recipient will click on the link in the e-mail they receive, and your file will be opened in their web browser. If they have edit permissions, they can edit the file, too. The file will also show up in the Shared with me section of their Google Drive for easy later reference. They can also find the shared file by going back into their e-mail.

You can change sharing settings at any time by selecting the file and opening the Sharing settings screen. For example, you could remove somebody from the sharing recipients list, and this would mean that person could no longer access the file. You could also simply change their access level; for example, somebody may e-mail you requesting permissions to edit a file that they only have view permissions for, and you could grant them in this way.

That's it for basic sharing! It only takes a few seconds to collaborating in the cloud.

From faxing and making diagrams, to project planning and editing video, the possibilities with Drive Apps range far and wide. Here is a list of some of the popular third-party applications that work with Google Drive that you can install and start using right now:

Drive Apps are similar to other programs on your computer, in that you have to first install them before you can use them. However, there is a very important difference: with regular programs, you're installing an actual copy of the program on your hard drive, and you can access it only from your computer.

With Drive Apps, however, you're adding it to Google Drive, online and in the cloud. Nothing is actually installed on your computer's hard drive. What's great about this is that just like you can access Google Drive from anywhere, you can access your Drive Apps from anywhere, too. Everything is online and in the cloud—files and programs.

Installing Drive Apps is done via the Chrome Web Store and takes just a few clicks. But note that you don't have to use Chrome to use Drive Apps; they can be used from any web browser such as Firefox or Internet Explorer, in addition to Chrome.

To install a Drive App, follow the ensuing steps:

That's it! Your app is now installed and ready to use.

Using Drive Apps in Google Drive is just a matter of a few clicks. There are two main ways you can use Drive Apps. First, you can create a new file; many, but not all, Drive Apps support this. Second, you can open an existing file with a particular Drive App.

Creating a new file with a Drive App

If a particular Drive App is able to create new files, it will show up in the Create menu, which you use to launch the app.

To create a new file using a Drive App:

1. Click on the red CREATE button in the upper-left corner to open the Create menu.

2. Click on the More option, appearing towards the bottom of the Create menu. This will pop open a submenu of Drive Apps that you've installed with which you can create new files. In this example, we see a number of apps.

3. Choose the app with which you want to create a new file

4. Your selected app will load in a new browser tab, and then you're ready to start using the app.

From here, the exact way the application works will vary depending on the app. Generally, you'll edit your new file in the app's user interface, saving it when done. Where does the file go when you save it? Back into Google Drive, where you can then edit it again, download it to your hard drive, or even share it with other people.

Opening an existing file with a Drive App

The other main way you can use a Drive App is by selecting one or more files, and then selecting the Drive App you'd like to use to open that file.

To open an existing file with a Drive App:

1. First, select a file, and then right-click on the file to bring up the Context menu (you can also select the file and click on the More toolbar button).

2. From here, select the Open with option that will show you a list of Drive Apps that you have installed that are able to open the file you selected.

3. In this example, we clicked on an image, and there are several apps installed that can open photos, including Aviary for Google Drive which we just installed.

4. Choose the app you'd like to use to open the file. The app will load in a new browser tab, and the selected file will appear, ready for action. Here, we have chosen to open the file in Aviary, one of many photo editors available that work with Google Drive.

5. When done, save the file in the app, and the changes will be written back to the file in Google Drive.

It's that simple! Just a few clicks and you're up and running with your newly installed Drive App.

Security permissions

Drive Apps are subject to very strict security requirements. Importantly, before apps can read or write files in Google Drive, you must first explicitly authorize them to do so. The first time you use a particular Drive App, whether with the Create or Open scenarios described in the previous section, you will be shown a special security screen by Google:

This screen lists the types of things the particular Drive App is requesting your permission to be able to do. It will only be able to function if you grant these permissions.

In this example, the application is requesting four types of permissions, such as the ability to read basic account information including your name and e-mail address. It is also requesting to be able to write files into Google Drive. Finally, it is requesting permission to read files that the application created, or that you have previously used the application to open. This means that the app cannot just go accessing any file in Google Drive—only ones it created, or you previously opened with the app.

To grant these permissions to the app, click on the blue Allow access button, and the app will be allowed to proceed. Otherwise, click on No thanks and this will prevent the application from having any access to Google Drive (and it will not be able to run).

To see a list of Drive Apps that are currently installed in Google Drive, choose the Manage apps option in the Settings menu by clicking on the Settings button on the toolbar. This will pop up the Manage apps screen:

The Manage Apps screen lists all applications that have been added to Google Drive. This screen is also a convenient point to find and install more Drive Apps, just click on the Get more apps link at the top.

Drive App options

There are several actions you can perform related to a Drive App. To see these options, first open the Manage apps screen shown previously, and then click on the Options button next to the app you're interested in. A special options menu will appear:

Here's an overview of some of these options.

• View product page: Choose this option to open up the app details pop up described earlier, which will show important details about the app such as the app description, screenshots, company website, support information, and reviews.

• View all files this app is authorized to access: In most cases, applications request permission to be able to access only those files that it created, or that you specifically choose to open with the app. Refer to the preceding Security permissions section. Choose this option to list all of those files that the application has permission to read and edit.

• View all files this app created: Choose this option to see a list of all the files that the application has created in Google Drive. Generally, this will be all files that you saved after using the CREATE button, but in some cases, applications may also write files into Google Drive in other situations.

• Remove this app: Choose this option to uninstall the Drive App from Google Drive.

Here are just a few ways you can use the Google Drive sync program.

When you install the Google Drive sync program on your computer, everything is kept up-to-date between the cloud (Google Drive on the Web) and your computer, automatically and in the background.

When you install the sync program, any files that you have already in Google Drive on the Web will be downloaded and placed into the Google Drive folder on your hard drive. Any files that you move into this folder on your hard drive (for example, from your Documents folder) will be uploaded to Google Drive on the Web.

Here are the most important basics on how syncing works:

That's all there is to it. The key thing to know when using the Google Drive sync program is that your files are kept up-to-date everywhere, across all your devices, automatically.

The following diagram shows how it all works:

There are two main concepts here—the cloud, and your computer. When files are in the cloud (in Google Drive), you can access them with your web browser. When you install the Google Drive sync program, which is an add-on program (and not Google Drive itself), this program will monitor a special folder on your computer called Google Drive. Files you move into this special folder on your computer, for example out of your Documents folder, will be uploaded to the cloud by the sync program where you can then access them using a web browser. Files you create on the Web will also be copied into your computer's special Google Drive folder by the sync program.

Installing the Google Drive sync program, known also as Google Drive for PC or Mac, is done in a few simple steps:

That's it! Google Drive is now installed for your PC or Mac. Your files in Google Drive will now start syncing to your computer's hard drive. This happens continually while your computer is on. If you turn your computer off, no worries: the next time it boots back up, Google Drive will load automatically and then check for any changes that have been made on the Web, and update the files in your computer as needed.

As we've seen, syncing files with the Google Drive sync program is automatic. File syncing is done in the background, with syncing done within seconds of a change either on your computer or the Web.

Installing Google Drive on your PC or Mac creates a special folder on your computer's hard drive called Google Drive. It's similar to other folders on your hard drive, with one difference: files and folders that you move into this folder on your computer will get uploaded and kept in sync with Google Drive on the Web.

The general idea is to move any files on your computer that you want to back up or keep in sync from their original folder (for example, Documents) into this special Google Drive folder. Note that it's best to move files into the Google Drive folder, not copy them. Otherwise, you'll have copies of the file in two different places (which can be problematic when you make changes).

To get started, open the special Google Drive folder on your computer by clicking on the Open Google Drive folder in the menu that appears when you click on the Google Drive icon. For Windows, the icon appears in the system tray in the bottom-right corner of the screen:

On a Mac, the icon is on the menu bar in the upper-right corner of the screen:

If you had files already in Google Drive, you will see that they are in the process of being synced to the Google Drive folder on your computer. Files are synced one by one so you will gradually see them appear in the folder. If you have a large number of files to sync, this could take several minutes, hours, or more.

To get the current sync status, open the Google Drive menu by clicking on the Google Drive icon in the taskbar. The first item that appears will be the synchronization status, which will indicate that the sync is complete, or if the sync is not complete, then the current sync progress will be displayed:

At this point, there's nothing more you need to do. Everything is automatic. If you'd like to upload and keep the files on your computer in sync with Google Drive, simply move them into the Google Drive folder. To stop syncing them, move them out of the Google Drive folder on your hard drive, and they will no longer be kept in sync or be available in Google Drive on the Web.

Just like with uploading files through the Web, note that files that are uploaded to and kept in sync with Google Drive on the Web using the sync program will count against your storage space in Google Drive, just as if you had uploaded them through the Web. In other words, files in Google Drive on the Web—whether they got there from the sync program, or from being uploaded manually—take up space in Google Drive.

By default, all folders in Google Drive will be synced. However, you have the option of only syncing some folders of your choosing. To set this preference:

The Google Drive app for Android is available for free from the Google Play Store, and it supports both phones and tablets.

To install the app, visit the Google Play Store by tapping the Play Store icon on your Android device. Find the application called Google Drive (you can search for it), and then install the app. Note you can also install the app by visiting Google's Play Store on the Web at https://play.google.com. Once installed, launch the app by tapping the Google Drive app icon in your device's apps screen.

The Google Drive app for iPhone and iPad is available for free from Apple's App Store, and it supports both phones and tablets.

To install the app, visit the App Store by taping on the App Store icon on your iPhone or iPad. Find the application called Google Drive (you can search for it), and then install the app. Once installed, launch the app by tapping on the Google Drive app icon in your device's apps screen.

For Android, iPhone, and iPad, the various flavors of the mobile Google Drive app all have the same basic functionality and work in similar ways. In fact, you'll recognize many of the basic user interface pieces from earlier in this book.

Navigation panel

This corresponds to the Navigation panel on Google Drive for the Web, and functions in the exact same way. Tapping an item in this panel will update the files shown in the Files list on your mobile device.

The labels correspond to those found in the Navigation panel on Google Drive for the Web:

• My Drive is where all files that you've created appear. Note that, unlike on the Web, your hierarchy of folders is not shown; instead, folders will be shown in the Files list and you can "drill down" into them as needed.

• Shared with me is where all files that other people have shared with you appear. Clicking on this will filter your Files list to only those items.

• Starred will show only those files that you have previously starred.

• Recent shows a list of files sorted by modification date; use this to quickly find files that have most recently been created or edited by you or someone else.

• Offline will show a list of files that are available for viewing offline, that is, while not connected to the Internet. Files can be marked to be kept offline in the Preview panel, discussed later.

Files list

The Files list appears when you tap on any of the items in the Navigation panel; for tablet devices that have a larger screen, the list will simply always be present to the right-hand side of the Navigation panel. In this example, we are in the Family folder.

For each file in this list, you can:

• See the file's title, icon, and the date that the file was last modified.

• Tap on the star to toggle whether the file is starred.

• Tap on the arrow on the right-hand side to get additional details about the file via the Preview panel.

• Tap on a file to open it. Google types can be previewed and even edited on the device. If you have an app installed on your device that can open the file, such as a PDF viewer or image editor, you'll have the opportunity to use that app to view the file.

Preview panel

The Preview panel shows a visual preview and additional details about the file, and also permits you to take additional actions on the file.

From the Preview panel, you can:

• See the icon and title of the file

• See a thumbnail (small image) preview of the file

• Open the file by tapping on the Open button or the file thumbnail

• See with whom a file is shared and their level of access (view or edit)

• Share the file with other people

• Mark the file as Available offline which means it will be copied onto your device and is viewable on the device even when you don't have an Internet connection

• Return to the Files list by closing the Preview panel

Actions menu

The Actions menu lets you perform certain operations on the selected file. It is very similar to the Context menu that appears in Google Drive for the Web. To pop open the Actions menu in Android, long-press (tap-and-hold) a file in the Files list. For iPhone/iPad, click on the "Actions" icon in the upper-right corner of the Preview panel.

Here are some of the things you can do in the Actions menu:

• Share the file with one or more people

• Rename the file

• Move the file to a different folder in Google Drive

• Remove the file, placing it in the Trash

• Print the file to any printer using Google Cloud Print

• Send the file via e-mail

Depending on the application version, certain other advanced options, such as printing, may be supported.

Create menu

The Create menu (or Add menu on iPhone/iPad) lets you create new items in Google Drive directly from your phone. This menu appears by clicking on the menu icon in the toolbar and selecting New, or by clicking on the + icon in the toolbar on iPhone/iPad.

From the Create menu, you can create a new Google Docs document, a new folder, or you can upload a photo or video from your phone directly into Google Drive.

You can see that the mobile experience for Google Drive is robust and full-featured. With the Google Drive mobile app, you can do the majority of the same things you can with a web browser on your desktop—viewing, editing, and sharing on the go.