What is Google Drive?

Pormath sasas

Drive Enterprise includes Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides which permits collaborative editing of documents, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings, forms, and other file types. While documents and images can be saved directly, webpages can be saved in the form of a screenshot (as an image of the visible part of the page or the entire page), or as a raw HTML, MHTML, or Google Docs file. This included improved keyboard accessibility, support for zooming and high contrast mode, and better compatibility with screen readers. In December 2016, Google updated the Android app and website with a “Backups” section, listing the Android device and app backups saved to Drive. In September 2016, Google added “natural language processing” for searching on the Google Drive website, enabling specific user search queries like “find my budget spreadsheet from last December”.
In 2023, a bug in Google Drive for Desktop resulted in a small number of files over a period of 6-months to disappear from user’s accounts. The website and Android app offer a Backups section to see what Android devices have data backed up to the service, and a completely overhauled computer app released in July 2017 allows for backing up specific folders on the user’s computer. On the website, users can search for an image by describing its visuals, and use natural language to find specific files, such as “find my budget spreadsheet from last December”. Users can change privacy settings for individual files and folders, including enabling sharing with other users or making content public. The key competitor to the Google suite is 365, Microsoft’s cloud-based offering for businesses that includes similar products. Tom’s Hardware’s James Gaskin wrote that “like most Google products, it can claim the cleanest and most minimal interface in the market”, and “No other suite except Office 365 can get close betico to the ease of collaboration Google provides. And even Microsoft’s product trails by a wide margin as changes only appear in real-time in Word 2016, not the other apps”.

  • As of 2025, Google Drive offers 15 gigabytes (GB) of free storage that’s shared by Drive, Gmail and Google Photos.
  • Google Drive for desktop based on File Stream, which will support features previously exclusive to each respective Client.
  • Choose folders on your computer to sync with Google Drive or backup to Google Photos, and access all of your content directly from your PC or Mac
  • On March 28, 2012, Google launched Google Vault, an optional electronic discovery and archiving service for Google Apps for Business customers.
  • For example, if a user dictates the sentence, “Find my sales presentations from last May,” Google Drives’ search function will only return files that match that criteria.
  • They can control access levels by specifying who can view, comment on or edit the content.

Save to Google Drive browser extension

When users upload files or folders to Google Drive, data is encrypted in transit using TLS . Desktop computer users who frequently work offline or prefer managing files through their native file system can download and install a special dedicated app for Google Drive. Once logged in, they can access Drive by visiting drive.google.com or by selecting Drive from the Google Apps menu (the grid icon) in any Google cloud service. A review by Michael Muchmore of PC Magazine in February 2016 praised the service as “truly impressive” in creating and editing files, describing its features as “leading” in office-suite collaboration.

File limits

In September 2012, Google announced that a paid plan would now cover total storage, rather than the paid allocation being added to the free; e.g. a 100 GB plan allowed a total of 100 GB rather than 115 GB as previously. In May 2018, Google announced that storage plans (including the free 15 gigabyte plan) would be moved over to Google One. In April 2024, Google rolled out support for a night mode theme to users. In early 2021, Google announced that it would be combining its Drive File Stream and Backup and Sync products into one product, Google Drive for Desktop, which will support features previously exclusive to each respective Client. The synced folders and files count against the shared quota allocated between Gmail, Google Photos, and Google Drive.

CamScanner – PDF Scanner App

  • In July 2021, Google Drive for Desktop, a new app for Windows and Mac, was released replacing “Backup and Sync” and “Drive File Stream”.
  • Google Drive incorporates a system of file sharing in which the creator of a file or folder is, by default, its owner.
  • Google Enterprise, the company’s business product division, was officially renamed Google for Work on September 2, 2014.
  • The Starter plan includes email addresses with custom domains (@yourcompany.com), video and voice calls, calendars, 30GB storage, collaborative documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and sites, controls for security and privacy, and 24/7 phone and email support.
  • In comparing the policies with competing services, Patel wrote that “it’s clear that they need the exact same permissions—they just use slightly more artful language to communicate them”.
  • On April 24, 2012, Google Drive was introduced with free storage of 5 GB.
  • On October 3, 2007, a month after acquiring Postini, Google announced that the startup’s email security and compliance options had been added to Google Apps Premier Edition.

It also featured on-demand file access, when the file is downloaded from Google Drive only when it is accessed. In September 2017, Google announced that it would discontinue the Google Drive desktop app in March 2018 and end support in December 2017. Google Drive was introduced on April 24, 2012, with apps available for Windows, macOS, and Android, as well as a website interface. As part of select Google Workspace plans, Drive offers unlimited storage, advanced file audit reporting, enhanced administration controls, and greater collaboration tools for teams.

Google Photos: Backup & Edit

The Business Plus plan enables many additional custom features, including advanced admin controls for Drive, 5TB storage on Drive, audit and reporting insights for Drive content and sharing, custom message retention policies, and more. They did say that business features might be removed at a later date, without giving indication what those features might be. On May 17, 2022, Google announced they would offer “G Suite legacy free edition” accounts the option to self-identify they are using these accounts for non-business use.

Introduced in the Android app in September 2016, Quick Access uses machine learning to “intelligently predict the files you need before you’ve even typed anything”. On April 3, 2023, it was reported that Google had also quietly introduced a user “creation limit” of 5 million files around February 2023. The Google Drive software development kit (SDK) works together with the Google Drive user interface and the Chrome Web Store to create an ecosystem of apps that can be installed into Google Drive.
The Cloud Search mobile app features “assist cards”, described by Google as “a new way to help you find the right information at the right time. Using Google’s machine intelligence technology, these cards can help you prepare for an upcoming meeting or even suggest files that need your attention”. Google Tasks lets users capture and manage to-dos anywhere in Google Workspace or using iOS and Android apps. Writing for TechCrunch, Frederic Lardinois wrote that “Google is clearly positioning its apps as a more affordable solutions for companies that need to occasionally edit Office files”.

Google Keep

If anyone tries to sign in to these services from these countries or regions, they would get an error message. In March 2014, Google announced the Google Apps Referral Program in the United States and Canada. In September 2014, Amit Singh, then-President of then-named Google for Work, stated that “60 percent of the Fortune 500” companies were paying for the service, with “more than 1,800 customers” signing up each week. Data is stored in Google’s data centers, which are “built with custom-designed servers, that run our own operating system for security and performance”, with “more than 550 full-time security and privacy professionals”.
Google delivers 24/7 phone support to business users and has guaranteed 99.9% uptime for its servers. In October 2014, the Android app was updated with a Material Design user interface, improved search, the ability to add a custom message while sharing a file, and a new PDF viewer. The Google Drive app on Android allows users to take a photo of a document, sign, or other text and use optical character recognition to convert to text that can be edited. In June 2017, Google announced that a new app, “Backup and Sync”, would be able to synchronize any folder on the user’s computer to Google.