Lets face it, where would we be without Google? Daily, Google tends to be the superhero we all need but don’t deserve. If you didn’t know before, Google is much more than just a search engine. It offers a plethora of tools to help you streamline your workflow and better your business. One of those tools is Google Drive. Here at Sparks Sites, we love Google Drive. We use it on the regular and think it would be beneficial for each and every one of you. Here’s all the ins and outs on Google Drive:
What exactly is Google Drive?
So you know how you can copy files onto a flash drive or an external hard drive? We love that because you are backing up your files on to something else just in case anything happens to your hard drive. The thing about flash drives or external hard drives are you have to keep up with them. Google Drive does the same thing as those devices only its all online with Google. The Drive allows you to store your files securely and open or edit them from any device. It’s also super easy to share files with others all you need is a Gmail account!
Step One: Go to drive.google.com
When you are signed in to your Gmail account, go to Google Drive and you will see the “home base” of your Google Drive storage. You’ll see the “My Drive” tab which contains files and folders you upload or Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms you create. If you haven’t used yours yet then there will be nothing in your drive, but you can add all kinds of files and folders to it! How you do that you might ask? Well lets move on to step two!
Step Two: Upload or create files
Use your Google Drive to upload and create files by click the blue “New” button in the top left corner! There are several different ways you can utilize your drive:
- Upload: Add your own documents, images and spreadsheet
- Folders: Creating folders is a crazy easy task. All you have to do is right click and select “New Folder.” Give it a name and then you can add more folders and files inside!
- Docs: This is a really cool feature. Not only can you add a simple WordDoc to your drive, you can create a Google Doc in your drive. This keeps the file off your actual hard drive and shareable and editable with anyone.
- Spreadsheets: Similarly to Google Docs, you can easily create spreadsheets in your Google Drive using Google Sheets.
- Forms: And just when you didn’t think it could get any cooler, you can even create forms using Google Forms.
Gone are the days of having endless amounts of WordDocs and Excel spreadsheets on your hard drive. Use Google Drive to share all your files on a the best “back up system.”
Step Three: Share / Organize Files
As we have mentioned before, not only does Google Drive save you space on your hard drive, but it also is super easy to share and organize your files. The folder system in the drive makes it simple for you to sort out all your files in the way that you choose. And sharing is as easy as right clicking on a file or folder and selecting “share.” All anyone needs is a Gmail account to be able to share files between one another.
This is a helpful video that gives insight on the magic of file sharing within the drive!
Access Your Google Drive!
If you have a Gmail account, get started using your Google Drive today! If you don’t have a Gmail account, get one! We promise Google Drive will make it a piece of cake to organize your files and share them with others. We almost forgot to mention, the first 15GB of space is FREE! Check out Google Drive today!
