9 Google Drive Tips You'll Wish You Knew All Along

By lkolowich@hubspot.com (Lindsay Kolowich Cox)

If you asked me to name the sites and applications I use every single day, Google Drive would be near the top of the list. What’s Google Drive? a cloud-based app used for file creation, storing, sharing, collaboration, and a whole lot more.

Download our free guide here for even more tools and tips for increasing your productivity.

In fact, Google Drive has more value than meets the eye. Did you know that you can crop photos right inside a Google Document? Or that you can use Drive to send really big files to people — files that are too big for Gmail?

Let’s learn how to take full advantage of what Google Drive has to offer. (You might want to bookmark our list of little-known Google Calendar features, too.)

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What’s Google Drive?
How it Works
Google Drive Tips

If you have a Google account, you already have access to Drive and 15GB of free storage.

How does Google Drive work?

While the primary function of Google Drive is storage, Drive also serves as the nerve center for all of your account-related activity. Drive integrates with Google Docs, Slides, Forms, and Sheets which allow you to not only create new files but collaborate on them with your team in real time.

You can upload your files online or install Drive for Desktop, which allows you to sync folders from your computer to Drive. If you edit, move, or remove a file on the cloud, the same happens on your computer (or whatever device you are using).

How to Use It

As we briefly mentioned above, to use Google Drive you’ll first need to set up an account. Simply head to Google’s homepage and click “sign in” where you’ll be prompted to create an account if you don’t already have one.

Once an account is created there are multiple ways to access Drive. You can type https://drive.google.com into your browser. If already signed in, from the Google homepage you can click the “apps” icon in the top right corner and select Drive from the drop down menu.

Once you log in, you’ll be brought to your main Drive hub where you can view your files and create new ones. View files that have been shared with you, your shared devices, or use the search bar at the top to find a specific file.

Google’s AI technology and search capabilities are embedded in Drive — helping you to quickly find what you need. Next, we’ll give you some quick tips to make using Google Drive even easier.