The Google Drive web app has some other neat features such as the ability to change to a tile view. This gives you a small preview of the file without having to open or download it – it’s is especially useful if you upload pictures or PDF documents. Speaking of uploading files – it’s accomplished by clicking the upload button or dragging and dropping files into the web browser itself. If you have shared the document in Google parlance, you’re the Owner – you can prevent others from downloading it as well. Most of the other options are self-explanatory – you can, of course, download a Google Drive document to any local PC. This could be a lifesaver if you accidentally overwrite a portion of your Master’s thesis! Google Drive will store up to 100 revisions for 30 days you can mark them to never be deleted by checking the Do Not Auto Delete box. One of the most interesting options is Manage Revisions. Revisions allow you to look at all the previously-stored versions of the document if you edit a file in Google Apps and save it, the original isn’t overwritten it’s saved as a version. The Share… option makes it easy to share files and also encourages collaboration via apps, particularly document editing. Google Apps integrates directly with Google Drive as well as many third-party applications including video and photo editors and spreadsheet makers. A full list of apps available for Google Drive can be found in the Google Chrome Web Store. Google Drive isn’t just a file repository, but also a backend storage subsystem for apps. Open With allows you to open the document with a certain type of app. Right-click a file and all sorts of options become available: It’s easy to create folders and drag files into them. There’s a helpful file type indicator next to each of the files and folders. The most common way to access Google Drive is through a web browser. One of the things I like best about the interface is that it’s uncluttered. We’ll kick off this analysis by taking a look at each Google Drive app in-depth. Up to 16TB is available depending on your needs. Google Drive offers 5GB for free and users can purchase more for a reasonable price: This means you are no longer dependent on your computer to get access to your data. ‘Cloud’ is just another word for the Internet and ‘Cloud storage’ means Internet storage once uploaded to Google Drive, your files are stored on Google’s servers in datacenters throughout the world. Don’t have a Google Account yet? Go here to create one.ĭrive is a cloud storage service offered by Google. Users with an existing Google Account can go here to start using Drive immediately.

It’s a fantastic tool for document management, sharing and backup, but what is the best way to make the most of this service? We compare the browser-based web app and the locally installed desktop app to see the real differences. Google Drive is a cloud storage service that offers users 5GB of space for free.

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