Tag Archives: Drive for desktop

Quickly access Google Drive files in Chrome browser

What’s changing 

We’re adding a card onto the New Tab Page in your Chrome browser that will surface relevant files from your Google Drive, making it easier and more efficient to find the files you need.  

In 2019, we launched the ability for some users to quickly search for files in the Chrome browser URL bar. Today, we’re taking that experience one step further by bringing intelligent file suggestions directly into your New Tab Page in Chrome . 

search for files in the Chrome browser URL bar

Search for files in the Chrome browser URL bar

Who’s impacted

Admins and end users

Why you’d use it

End users will be able to access their highest priority Drive files straight from the Chrome Desktop new tab page. The easily accessible interface will save end user time and mental load to navigate to relevant files. 

Getting started

Admins: 

  • This feature will be ON by default and can be disabled at the domain/OU/group level as long as the default New Tab Page experience is available to our users. This feature will not impact users for whom admins who have set a different New Tab Page experience using Chrome policies. Visit the Help Center to learn more about turning Google Drive cards on or off for your organization. 


Allow or disable Google file suggestions

Allow or disable Google file suggestions

End users: 

  • This feature will be on by default as long as users have not changed their New Tab Page experience. It can be disabled and re-enabled by the user by clicking the ‘Customize Chrome’ button in the bottom right of the new tab page. 

Rollout pace

Availability

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers. Also available to users with personal Google Accounts. 

Resources

Easily make all files types available offline in Google Drive

What’s changing 
Google Drive stores your most important files, whether they are Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, PDFs, images or the hundreds of other file types we support today. Today, we are announcing more ways to make sure you can make them all accessible to you even when your internet connection is unavailable. 

In 2019, we launched a beta which enabled you to mark non-Google file types, like PDFs, images and Microsoft Office files, available offline when using Google Drive on the web. Now, we’re making this functionality generally available. When you mark these files available offline, you can easily open these files from your browser even when you aren’t connected to the internet.

Easily find files offline


 

ChromeOS users can now also use the easily accessible Files app on their Chromebook to select Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files to be available when offline. This streamlined access eliminates the need to open Google Drive or Google Docs to select files to make them available offline. 

Find files offline
 

Who’s impacted 
Admins and end users 
 
Why you’d use it 
Users can access all of their important Drive files while offline such as when they’re traveling or when there’s poor internet connectivity. 

Additional details 
Non-Google files such as PDFs, images and Microsoft Office files will need to be opened using apps installed on your computer through Google Drive Web when offline. This feature is already available for Google Drive for desktop users. 

Getting started 

Rollout pace 
Availability 
  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as Cloud Identity Free, Cloud Identity Premium, G Suite Basic and Business customers. Available on personal accounts as well. 

Resources 

Roadmap 

Easily make all files types available offline in Google Drive

What’s changing 
Google Drive stores your most important files, whether they are Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, PDFs, images or the hundreds of other file types we support today. Today, we are announcing more ways to make sure you can make them all accessible to you even when your internet connection is unavailable. 

In 2019, we launched a beta which enabled you to mark non-Google file types, like PDFs, images and Microsoft Office files, available offline when using Google Drive on the web. Now, we’re making this functionality generally available. When you mark these files available offline, you can easily open these files from your browser even when you aren’t connected to the internet.

Easily find files offline


 

ChromeOS users can now also use the easily accessible Files app on their Chromebook to select Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files to be available when offline. This streamlined access eliminates the need to open Google Drive or Google Docs to select files to make them available offline. 

Find files offline
 

Who’s impacted 
Admins and end users 
 
Why you’d use it 
Users can access all of their important Drive files while offline such as when they’re traveling or when there’s poor internet connectivity. 

Additional details 
Non-Google files such as PDFs, images and Microsoft Office files will need to be opened using apps installed on your computer through Google Drive Web when offline. This feature is already available for Google Drive for desktop users. 

Getting started 

Rollout pace 
Availability 
  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as Cloud Identity Free, Cloud Identity Premium, G Suite Basic and Business customers. Available on personal accounts as well. 

Resources 

Roadmap 

Backup and Sync users should begin transitioning to Drive for desktop

What’s changing 

Earlier this year, we announced that we were working towards unifying our two existing Google Drive sync clients – Backup and Sync and Drive File Stream – into a single sync client called Drive for desktop. By doing this, we’re creating a powerful and unified sync client with the best and most used features from both Backup and Sync and Drive File Stream. 

We also mentioned in this announcement that Google Workspace customers with Backup and Sync users would need to transition these users to Drive for desktop. Now, we want to provide a more detailed timeline for this transition: 

  • Starting July 19, 2021: Backup and Sync will support a guided flow to help users transition onto Drive for desktop. 
  • Starting August 18, 2021: Any users still on Backup and Sync will start to receive in-product notifications prompting them to transition to Drive for desktop. 
  • Starting October 1, 2021: Any users still on Backup and Sync after that point will no longer be able to sign in to Backup and Sync. To continue syncing with Drive and/or Google Photos, users will need to transition to Drive for desktop. 


Users can easily see which files and folders are synced using Drive for desktop 

Who’s impacted 

Admins and end users 


Why it’s important 

Drive for desktop is a unified sync client that provides a consistent experience for anyone who uses Drive, whether for business, education or personal purposes. It enables you to quickly sync and access content directly from Mac or PC, which can save you time by helping you access files and folders in a familiar location. Drive for desktop also automatically syncs local files to the cloud in the background, which minimizes the time you need to spend waiting for files to sync while also freeing up your disk space and saving network bandwidth 


Getting started 

Rollout pace 

  • Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: 
    • Starting July 19, 2021: Backup and Sync will support a guided flow to help users transition onto Drive for desktop. 
    • Starting August 18, 2021: Any users still on Backup and Sync will start to receive in-product notifications prompting them to transition to Drive for desktop. 
    • Starting October 1, 2021: Any users still on Backup and Sync after that point will no longer be able to sign in to Backup and Sync. To continue syncing with Drive and/or Google Photos, users will need to transition to Drive for desktop. 

Applicability 

  • Applicable to Backup & Sync users at all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers. This is also applicable to users with personal Google Accounts, and these users can learn more in this Keyword blog post. 

Resources