Google Folders gives you a great way to organize your files and keep your desktop clean in Google Drive.
Lots of Files
In the last tech post, you learned why you should open a Gmail account, and how to create a Google Doc in your Google Drive. Today, Let’s talk about how to organize those Docs; because if you can’t find the document that holds your last genius idea, it isn’t much good, is it?
Do you remember how to get to Drive? Click on the dots button in the upper right corner of the Google Search page.
The drive icon is in the middle of the list. Click on it.
You are now in your Drive.
Today, let’s make some Google Folders in which to file your Docs.
Making Google Folders
In the upper left corner of your Drive, click on “New,” and then “folder.” Give the folder a name. For example, “Blog posts August 2017.” Choose folder names that will help you find and organize documents in a way that makes sense to you. This is much easier than searching through a giant list of unorganized documents, especially if you can’t remember what you named the Doc.
Filing is as simple as this: find the Doc you want to file, left click on it and hold the mouse button down as you drag the file on top of the folder you want it to go in. Once you are over the folder, lift your finger off the button. Your file will be kept in the chosen folder.
Quick Access
One thing you should know about the displayed Docs. The top row says “Quick Access.” You can click on the images to open the Docs, but these are not the actual files; so, they won’t drag and drop. You will need to find the file you want to move in the third row and higher (or, lower, physically). These are labeled “files.” The second row in Drive will show the folders you created.
If you right click on the folders, you can edit their colors, names, add a priority star, share, delete, and so on.
Alphabetical Order
Google Folders will automatically order alphabetically, from left to right. Starting a folder name with a number? Those will appear before the alphabet names. Numbered folders are organized chronologically. So, a folder named “2016 posts” will appear before a folder named “2017 posts;” and both will come before a folder named “Accounts.”
When you put a star in a folder, you can quickly access it from the left column drive menu by clicking on “Starred.” Your starred folders will be displayed. You might star a folder, for example, that you are often working in, or that you want to be able to find quickly.
Sharing Files and Folders
A very cool feature of your Drive is the “share” option, when you right click on a folder is You can share the contents of the folder with another Google Drive user by typing in the Gmail account of the person you want to share with. Let’s say you are researching hotels around a city, and have saved information in the folder. The Google user you share with will get the same folder in their Drive, with the same Docs you put in.
When you click on “share,” you will see a pencil icon to the right of the email address box. This drop down menu allows you to restrict use of your folder and Docs to “read only” or to permit the recipient to edit the Docs.
The “download” option when right clicking on a folder will make a copy of the folder and the Docs it contains on your mobile device or computer.
That’s it for today. Time to get organized!
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