Google Drive Blog
The latest news and updates from the Google Drive team.
Tips & Tricks: Moving my files to the cloud
Thursday, November 11, 2010
About a year ago, I started scanning and uploading all the important papers floating around my house into Google Docs. It seemed like an obvious solution to three things that drove me crazy:
Clutter (I believe papers not only accumulate but secretly multiply)
Access (I always need that bill/file that is at home and not at the office with me)
Sharing (It’s a common occurrence that I need someone else to also look at that file, and that person is hardly ever with me at the office either.)
Scanning and uploading ended up being only half the battle. My house was cleaner, but my organizing and sharing work-flow was far from perfect. So, I developed a system in Google Docs to keep organized. Here are some tips & tricks that you may find useful:
Folders and sub-folders
What:
With the
Create New
button in the upper left, you can create folders to organize your content. Click on your newly created folder on the left hand side of your document list. While you’re there, you can click Create New again to make a sub-folder within the first folder.
Tip
: To minimize how many folders I see on the left hand side, I create general folder titles like Bills and Photos. I then use sub-folders for clearer classification like Electricity and Cell Phone under my ‘Bills’ folder. When I’m uploading a scanned document I’m able select the appropriate sub-folder right away.
Shared folders
What:
Once you’ve created a folder, you can keep it for yourself, or share it with anyone. Right click on a folder, select
Share
, and choose the
sharing option
that best fits your need.
Tip:
My husband and I compiled all of our immigration paperwork into one folder. Recently my brother took the plunge and also had to work his way through this process. By sharing my folder with him, it made it easier for him to see what was needed and simplified the process a bit (at least that’s what he told me...).
Managing document versions
What:
Click on any file and select ‘Add or manage versions’ in order to upload and group different versions of the same document together.
Tip:
While this is an ideal tool for a designer that wants to keep iterations of the same graphic in one place, I found my own everyday use for this feature. I keep track of items where the most recent has more importance than past ones. For example, I scan my taxes, and upload the oldest ones first so the newest one is visible, but I have the option to download past copies.
Exporting your files
What:
Someone you know doesn’t live in the cloud? Gasp! No worries, I can easily
export all the files
in a folder. Just right-click the folder, choose
Export
, and click the
Download
button.
Tip:
Taking this action will save a .zip file to my computer’s hard drive that I can then email to anyone who’s not as tech-savvy (though, I might have to unzip the file for them too!).
If you’re in the mood to give your filing cabinet the boot, chime in here with your own tips for moving your files to the cloud.
Posted by: Rebecca Steelman, Consumer Operations
Labels
#SafeOnline
accessibility
add-ons
Android
app scripts
apps
attachments
avery
back to school
blind
braille
charts
chat
Chrome
Chrome extensions
chrome web apps
Cloud Connect
collaboration
comments
community
discussions
docs
docs editors
document list
documents
documents list
drawings
Drive
drivebacktoschool
easybib
education
enterprise
Faces of Docs
folders
forms
gmail
gone google
Google Apps Blog
Google Apps Script
Google Cloud Connect
google docs
Google Docs Viewer
google documents
google drive
Google Drive Blog
Google Pack
Google Sites
Google+
googlenew
Guest Post
hangout on air
help
holiday
images
iOS
Keep
letterfeed
low-vision
mailchimp
mobile
nanowrimo
OCR
office compatibility mode
offline
paperless
pdfs
photo
photos
presentations
product ideas
profiles
quickoffice
Reddit
research
save to drive
screen reader
scripts
security
sharing
sheet
sheets
shortcut
slides
spell check
spreadsheets
stock photos
storage
students
suggested edits
tables
teachers
team
templates
videos
Viewer
work
Archive
2016
Sep
May
Apr
Feb
Jan
2015
Dec
Nov
Oct
Jul
Mar
Feb
Jan
2014
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jun
Apr
Mar
Jan
2013
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2012
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
2011
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2010
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2009
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2008
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2007
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2006
Dec
Nov
Oct
Feed
Visit our site
Google Drive
Google Docs, Sheets, Slides
Google
on
Follow @googledrive
Give us feedback in our
Product Forum
.
