Use Drive to Organize Files Extensions

In this video, you will mark important files in your Google Drive account.

Marking files makes them stand out from other files in Drive, so they're easy to find later.

All files matter, but some of them are more important than others, and you need to be able to find those quickly.

For example: college applications, assignments you need to turn in, applications for summer jobs, or articles for the school newspaper.

To start, open Google Drive.

There are two ways to mark a file.

First, go to the folder, and choose a file to open and star.

When you're working on a document and realize it's important, you can add a star without leaving the page you're on.

If you realize later that a file is important and you'll reference it a lot― like a study guide or a short story you're writing― you can star that file right from the main Google Drive screen without ever opening the document.

If you star something by accident, you can always click "Undo." If you later decide that you don't want a file starred anymore― like after you turn in an essay or project― you can remove the star without opening the file.

When you need to access the important files you've starred in the past, find them in your Google Drive by going to the section marked "Starred." The "Starred" section of the Google Drive will show you any file you have marked, regardless of whether it's a picture, document, presentation, spreadsheet, or PDF.

Now, it's your turn: open a file in Google Drive, add a star to it, and check the Starred folder to confirm the file is there.

In this video, you'll quickly find and open a recent file in Google Drive.

Sometimes you think of something you need to change in a file just after you close it.

When that happens, you'll want to find and open that file as quickly as possible— before you forget your great idea or what you needed to change.

This can be useful if you're in a hurry and don't have the time to look through all of your files for something you worked on an hour ago, a day, or even a week.

For example, if you suddenly realize you didn't include a time on the flyer you created to advertise an upcoming student government meeting, find and open that flyer right from your recent files.

To start, open Google Drive.

Find and click on the "Recent" section to see your newest files.

The "Recent" section organizes files by when you last opened them.

For example, to find the file you shared with a partner earlier today, check the "Today" section.

If you worked on the file longer ago, the file will appear in the section that corresponds to the date you last opened it.

For example, if you shared your group project two weeks ago, it would appear in the section labeled "Earlier this month." Checking your recent files can be useful when you don't remember the name of a file you're trying to find but know when you last opened it.

Now, it's your turn: find and click on "Recent," look through the files you saved here, and open the group project your partner shared with you earlier.

In this video, you will check how much storage space you have available for files, change file formats, and set how Drive notifies you about the changes to your files in your account.

Google Drive makes it easy for you to store, organize, find, and share files.

But you can make Drive extra useful by customizing your account settings.

To start, open Google Drive.

From the home screen, open your settings menu.

This gives you the freedom to choose how your Google Drive account works.

The first setting of the menu tells you how much storage you have available for files you add to Google Drive and how much you have used so far.

Choose whether to convert uploaded files to Google Drive editor format.

This is useful when you have created a file in another app or software but wanna be able to edit it using Google Docs.

Or, change the language your Drive account uses.

If you like, change the notifications you get when someone sends you a file in Google Drive or comments on or edits a file you have sent them.

If you use Google Chrome to browse the internet, you can also get those notifications right in your browser.

This means that if you're online when something changes in your Drive account, you'll get a notification immediately— even if you aren't looking at Google Drive or your Gmail account.

This setting is turned off by default.

Depending on your computer, you may have the option to turn it on and adjust the settings.

Choose what kinds of notifications you get in your browser.

If you want to be notified only when someone shares a new file with you, leave only that box checked.

If you want to be notified in your browser every time someone adds a comment to one of your files or makes a suggestion, keep that box checked.

This option can be helpful when you're waiting to receive feedback from someone about a file you've shared.

When you have your settings just the way you want them, click "Done." Now, it's your turn: open your settings menu in Google Drive, check how much storage space you have available, decide whether to convert uploaded files, choose the notification settings you want, and click "Done."

In this video, you will customize your sharing settings in Google Drive to choose how people interact with the files and folders you share with them.

Sharing your work with others can be a great way to learn something new, get better at something you're already good at, and help a friend understand a new concept.

But you might not want every person you share a file with to be able to change that file or to have permanent access to it.

Sharing settings also can be used to: keep your work from being shared without your permission, allow a teacher to give feedback on your work, let your friends proofread your college applications, and keep people from changing your words.

To start, open Google Drive.

Find and open the folder you shared with a classmate earlier.

Share the folder.

This screen shows who has the access to the file or folder you're sharing and enables you to: update or remove the access others have to your file, and tell Drive whether to let people with access to the file share it with others or download, copy, or print it.

Because your partner has given you feedback on your group project already, remove their ability to comment on the folder you've shared and make the documents within that folder view-only.

Keep in mind, that if you share a folder with someone else, that person has access to every subfolder and file within that folder.

Now, it's your turn: open the folder you shared with a partner and open the files inside, select "Share," and set the file's permissions so your partner can only view the file.

In this video, you will download and save files from your Google Drive to your computer.

Keeping your files in Google Drive gives you access to the files when you are online.

Sometimes you might not be able to get online but still want to work on a story you're writing or a presentation you're creating.

"Downloading" files from Drive gives you access to those files anytime.

To start, open Google Drive.

Find a file in your Science folder and open it.

To download the file, open the "File" menu and find the option to download.

This menu gives you a few different options for the kind of file you'll download.

Your choice will depend on what your file contains and how you plan to use it.

For example, if you want to use the word-processing application on your computer to work on a paper you've started in Google Docs, your best choice is to download the file as a Microsoft Word document.

If you want to download a file so that it's secure and no one can change its wording, it’s better to choose a PDF document.

This can be useful for files you need to upload to other websites.

For example, some companies or colleges ask applicants to upload resumes as PDFs. Once you download your file, make sure to open it.

Computer systems don't always use the same fonts and formats, so it's important to check that everything looks the way you want it to before you use the file.

Now, it's your turn: open the file you want to download, choose the format you want to download it in, download the file, and open and check the file.

In this video, you will use the search feature to find a file stored in your Google Drive account.

This is useful when you know some keywords in the file that you're looking for but don't remember what you named it or don't have the time to look for it by its exact name.

Google Drive is a great place to store your files for later use, but having a place to store your important files is only useful if you can find those documents when you need them.

Even if you keep your Drive account organized, it can still be tricky to find one specific file when you have a lot of different materials stored there.

To start, open Google Drive.

If you remember what you called the file you're looking for, use Drive to search for it by name.

Or, search for a file by keywords it contains.

For example, if you know you were working on notes for the last newspaper staff meeting, you could search the word "newspaper." Use advanced search settings to customize your search.

This is useful if you have multiple files with similar names or content.

Advanced search settings allows you to change the type of file Google Drive searches for.

For example, if you know you want to find a spreadsheet, ask Drive to find only spreadsheets.

If you know you starred the file to mark it important, ask Drive to look for it within your starred files.

Or search for a file in the trash if you think you might have deleted it.

If you know you worked on the file you're trying to find today, for example, ask Drive to search by date.

Choose to find only the files you made changes to today.

Also consider whether you have shared a file with anyone.

If you shared a file with your teacher or classmate, ask Drive to search for only the files you've shared with that person.

Now, it's your turn: think of a file you want to find, use the advanced search settings to select the file type, and search for that file in Google Drive.