15 Best Google Drive Tips and Tricks for Making Your Daily Tasks Easier

Do you searching for Google Drive tips and tricks to make your daily tasks easier? Then, this article might end your search. We bring some of the best Google Drive tips and tricks for you. Stick on your seat and check them out.

Since its inception in 2012, Google Drive has gone a long way. It now boasts an estimated 1.5 billion users and billions of terabytes of data. If you want to improve your Google Drive abilities to be more productive, keep reading. We’ll go through some of the top Google Drive tips & tricks.

Best Google Drive Tips & Tricks in 2022

We have picked out the 15 best Google Drive tips and tricks for you on this topic. So, read till the end and try each tip & trick given below.

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Use Shortcuts in Google Drive

If you use Google Drive files frequently, you may build shortcuts to open them with a single click. To make a Google Drive shortcut, just go to the file in question, right-click it, and select Add a shortcut to Drive from the context menu.

Make the Most of the searches

Google Drive’s mobile and desktop versions both offer a search capability. It would be a huge time-saving if you have hundreds of files on your account. But did you know that the search bar now supports Boolean operators, making it even simpler to discover what you’re looking for? It functions precisely like Gmail search. This means you may easily refine your list by using “to:”, “from:”, “type:”, “AND”, “OR”, “owner:”, “before:”, “title:”, and other operators.

Google Drive Tips & Tricks – Sync Your Files

Even if you choose to keep your primary drive as local storage, Google Drive is an excellent backup option. To get started, download Google’s Backup and Sync software on your desktop. Once it is operating, go to the app’s settings menu and choose the files and folders you wish to keep in sync.

Add Links to Documents without leaving the Web App

Google Drive Tips and Tricks

Google Drive is addressing that the repeated search of the web for items, copying their URLs, and pasting them into a document might be irritating and monotonous. Simply pick the text you wish to hyperlink and click “Cmd+K” or “Ctrl+K.” This will create a little dialogue box directly below the chosen text, where you may search for keywords and pick the suitable link.

Google Drive Tips & Tricks – Use Chrome Extensions

Several programs allow you to store online information. Pocket and Google Keep are both excellent services. However, if you use the official Google Drive Chrome extension, you can save all of your information in one location for simple administration.

Add Chrome Extension

You can save the current page to Drive, save hyperlinks and media from the right-click context menu, and even save PDFs of the current page from the Chrome print menu. HTML, music, Office documents, PDFs, and photos are all supported online.

Save Your Emails & Attachments to Google Drive Automatically

Save Email & Attachments

Another Google Drive tip and trick is Save Emails and Attachments, which accomplishes exactly what it says. You may set rules depending on the sender’s email ID, the topic, message size, attachments, and so on, and the add-on will automatically sync emails from your Gmail email account into a spreadsheet every hour. It also keeps a PDF copy of the email, as well as any attachments, within Google Drive.

You can also run it manually. Go to “Add-ons”, select “Save Emails and Attachments” and tap on “Manage Rules.” Then, Run it Manually.

Setup offline access for Your Files

Many people now utilise cloud applications as their primary storage media. Sure, it may not be ideal in terms of security and privacy, but if you can get over those concerns mentally, having access to all of your data on all of your devices at all times is a huge benefit.

Google Drive Tips and Tricks

However, the procedure fails when you are not connected to the internet. That is why it is critical to configure offline access to your data. You may do so with the Google Docs Offline Chrome add-ons.

After it has started, go to Google Drive > Settings > Offline and check the option next to Create, open, and modify your recent Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files on this device offline.

Google Drive Tips & Tricks – Fine Tune Preferences

Fine Tune

It is usually preferable to have the desired control over choices so that you may fine-tune each vital feature to your demands. Google Docs allows you to adjust your choices for a personalized experience. You may, for example, disable smart quotations, turn off automated spelling correction, and disable action item recommendations.

Furthermore, you may fine-tune substitutes to meet your individual needs. Open any document and then go to Tools. Then, select Preferences. Customize Google Docs settings and alternatives now. Finally, click OK to complete.

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Convert All offline Microsoft Files to Google Drive formats

Microsoft Office files (such as DOC, XLS, and PPT) differ from their Google Docs counterparts (like GDOC, G-SLIDES, and G-SHEET). While Google Drive can read and open Office files, the layout might be off-putting.

The answer is to transform all Office documents into their Google equivalents automatically when they are submitted. Open Drive, go to Settings > Convert uploads, and check the option next to Convert uploaded files to Google Docs editor format.

Customize Accessibility Settings

Customize Accessibility

One of Google Docs’ lesser-known features is the Accessibility options, which may be quite useful for those with disabilities. It supports screen readers and magnifiers.

Furthermore, there is an option to activate collaborator announcements, which makes it a little simpler to see when individuals enter and depart their files. Open any document and then select Tools. Then, choose Accessibility options. Now, modify the parameters to suit your needs.

Share from Directly within Google Drive

Directly Share

While many people are aware of the Share button in Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets, did you realize you can share files directly from Drive without leaving the app? To do so, right-click the file you wish to share and select Share. You may share it with select persons or make it open to the public.

Translate Documents in Google Docs

Did you know that Google Drive can automatically translate whole documents for you? Yes, Google Translate is one of the most powerful and accurate translation services available, and it certainly works well with Google’s cloud storage offering. Here’s how to convert whole documents into Google Docs.

Google Translate
  • Simply open the file in Docs. Then select Tools > Translate a document.
  • Select the language into which you wish to translate the document and click ‘Translate.’
  • That’s it; Drive will translate the document and open it in a new tab.

Google Drive Tips & Tricks – Configure Quick Access

When you launch Google Drive, you’ll notice a row of recently opened/edited files at the top of the screen. These are Google’s recommendations based on your recent history.

Google Drive Tips and Tricks

They can, however, rapidly become bothersome. They are not only a waste of screen space, but they also pose a privacy issue due to their size and hence ease of reading by others.

To disable them, go to Google Drive > Settings > Suggestions. You may change the settings for files you own and files shared with you separately.

Customize Google Drive Interface

Customize Google Drive Interface

When you have a vast folder tree on a desktop system, it makes sense to modify the icons so that you can locate what you’re searching for quickly. The same is true for Google Drive. While the program does not handle ICO files as Windows does, you may alter the colour of folders by right-clicking on the folder you wish to edit and selecting Change colour from the context menu.

Google Drive Keyboard Shortcuts

If you like to use the keyboard to browse as much as possible. You must love these Google Drive keyboard shortcuts. Using keyboard shortcuts is not only faster, but it also saves time.

If you’re still not convinced, evaluate which method is more convenient: copying text with “Ctrl+C” or right-clicking and selecting “Copy”?

Keyboard Shortcuts

Simply, press Ctrl + / (Chrome OS, Windows) or ⌘ + / (Mac), and see a comprehensive list of all the different keyboard shortcuts accessible in Google Drive.

Navigation & Views Google Drive Shortcuts

Go to the navigation panel (folders list)g then n
g then f
Go to items viewg then l
Switch between grid and list in the items viewv
Go to the details paneg then d
Go to the top of the application (Google bar)g then t
Go to download statusg then a
Go to upload statusg then u
Show or hide details paned
Show or hide activity panei
Select or deselect an itemx
Select the next item downj + Down arrow
Select the next item upk + Up arrow
Select the next item to the lefth + Left arrow
Select the next item to the rightl + Right arrow
Extend selection downShift + Down arrow
Extend selection upShift + Up arrow
Extend selection leftShift + Left arrow
Extend selection rightShift + Right arrow
Select all visible itemsShift + a
Clear all selectionsShift + n
Move down without changing the selectionCtrl + Down arrow (Chrome OS, Windows) ⌘ + Down arrow (Mac)
Move up without changing the selectionCtrl + Up arrow (Chrome OS, Windows) ⌘ + Up arrow (Mac)
Move left without changing the selectionCtrl + Left arrow (Chrome OS, Windows) ⌘ + Left arrow (Mac)
Move right without changing the selectionCtrl + Right arrow (Chrome OS, Windows) ⌘ + Right arrow (Mac)

Take action on selected items on Google Drive with Shortcuts

Open selected itemEnter o
Rename selected itemn
Share selected items. (dot)
Move selected items to a new folderz
Star or un-star selected itemss
Add the selected folder to another folder Create shortcuts to selected itemsShift + z
Remove selected itemsAlt + Backspace (Chrome OS) Delete (Windows) Fn + Delete (Mac)
Undo the last actionCtrl + z (Chrome OS, Windows) ⌘ + z (Mac)
Redo the last undone actionCtrl + Shift + z (Chrome OS, Windows) ⌘ + Shift + z (Mac)
DocumentShift + t
PresentationShift + p
SpreadsheetShift + s
DrawingShift + d
FolderShift + f
FormShift + o
Create menuc
More actions menua
Current folder actions menuf
Sort menur
Settings menut
Choose the next visual density (Row height and element spacing for list view)q then q
Find/find nextCtrl + f (Chrome OS, Windows) ⌘ + f (Mac)
PrintCtrl + p (Chrome OS, Windows) ⌘ + p (Mac)
Show the last messagem
Search your Drive/
CloseEsc
Play/pauseSpace
Zoom in+ or =
Zoom out

Final Words on Google Drive Tips & Tricks

While there are numerous additional Google Drive tips and tricks, we have tried to cover all the primary and basic Google Drive tips and tricks in this post. Learn and use them, and you’ll be more productive in no time.

If you know of a Google Drive add-on, tips and tricks, or Chrome App that you believe we overlooked in this post, please let us know in the comments. We’d also want to know how you utilize Google Drive to be more productive.

Well, that’s all for today. We hope you will be helpful with this article. Share your thoughts and the user experience with these tips and tricks in the comment section. If you have anything to ask, please comment. Thanks for reading.!

Frequently Asked Questions

1) Why is it best to use Google Drive?

Google Drive is much more than a free cloud-based storage and synchronization service. It is also an essential component of a comprehensive, collaborative office suite. Google Drive may be used to both store papers you generate online and back up items on your PC.

2) What is a fact about Google Drive?

Google Drive is a cloud-based document storage platform. Drive enables file sharing with others. It may also be integrated with third-party applications. Archive files, audio files, image files, markup/code, text files, and video files are all supported.

3) How do I get the most out of Google Drive?

Try out the above-mentioned Google Drive tips and tricks to utilize Google Drive more productively. We have covered the 15 best Google Drive tips and tricks for you, so read the complete article.

4) Is it necessary to back up Google Drive?

Many users believe that by utilizing Google Drive, they are secured by all necessary data backups. However, although the Google Drive Desktop Application protects copies of your files on your computer against deletion or attacks, Google Drive remains vulnerable to data loss.