Part 4: Search - Are You Constantly Looking for Files in Your Google Drive?

Over the last few weeks we’ve talked through how the main sections of Google Drive behave. Now it's time to talk about Google Drive's power feature: Search!

The Search functionality in Google Drive

Tips for end-users and small businesses:

I am going to assume that your Google Drive is all neatly organized :), but just on the off chance that you still have to search for files, don't just type something into the search box and sift through a barrage of search results. Be intentional about your search. 

What do I mean by that? Well:

1. You know how you remember little bits of conversations that you have with your friends or colleagues, some quirky phrases that you or they said? Try to focus on those little tidbits and phrases in files: those are gold when it comes to searching. They are specific enough so Google Drive doesn't come up with a ton of files in your search result list.
2. Additionally, narrow down your search. Click the small triangle on the right side of the search bar at the top in your Google Drive. A whole new world will open up for you. Think about whether you remember the file type you are looking for: was it a Sheet, a Doc, a Slide? Something else?

Let's take a closer look:

1. You can actually start by typing into the search box, and then dropping down the arrow. The search phrase you typed in -- you'll notice -- by default will appear in the Has the words section, meaning, Google searches both in the items' names and in their content.
2. If your search phrase is very generic, you are likely to get a lot of results. Narrow them down by Type: Document, Spreadsheet, Presentation, PDF, video file, photo, etc. or even a Folder or a Shortcut.
3. Still too many results? Narrow further. Drop down the arrow again and refine some more. Do you remember the owner? Was it you? Someone else? Try the Owner field. (Note though that when you are searching for content that might live in a Shared drive, you won't find it by owner; instead, type creator:emailaddress in the search bar.)
4. If you want, you can narrow the location to specific folders in the Location section.
5. Do you think you might have put that content you were looking for into the Trash? Try checking the In Trash checkbox. 
6. Did you star it perhaps? Check Starred.
7. Do you have an approximate idea about when the file may have been last modified, narrow down your search in the Date modified field.
8. Next up is the Item name field. If you know the content's name, this can be a good bet.
9. We already talked about Has the words being the broadest of searches.
10. If you know specific people an item has been shared with try the Shared with section.

💎 KloudGem 1:

My all-time favorite productivity search is the Follow-up section in this dropdown. If you have received suggestions on files or have been assigned action items, this will help you search for all the ones you need to act on. Easy-peasy! This section is personalized to you.

💎 KloudGem 2:

As you search, pay attention to the black popup bars in the lower left corner for anything you placed in the Trash. Those pop-ups disappear quickly; if you miss them and think your item might be in the Trash, you will need to re-trigger them by performing the search again.

💎 KloudGem 3:

Focus on the details: try to remember the nuances, the things that make the item you’re searching for different, and use those for searching.

💎 KloudGem 4:

Ready to take searching up a notch? Try search operators in the Advanced section below.

https://support.google.com/drive/answer/2375114?hl=en

These are short words you can type into the search box, usually followed by a colon, without a space between the operator and the search term, or they may be symbols. Personally, I am obsessed with search operators: they often work across Google tools and they are like hidden gems, making it easier and faster for you to find things.

Tips for mid-size companies and large enterprises:

Searching effectively can make the difference between your users loving or hating their Google work environment. Invest in training them on search best practices in Google Drive, and in other Google tools. Their productivity will thank you for it.

❓ Is there anything else that keeps you scratching your head in Google Drive? Let me know in the Comments below.

Need help taming your Google tools or training your users? Contact me for a free first consult: https://www.kloudgem.com/get-in-touch/contact 

Do you know someone who could use these KloudGem tips? Feel free to send them this link: https://www.kloudgem.com/follow-resources/newsletter 

KloudGem website: https://www.KloudGem.com

Part 3: Shared drives section - Are You Constantly Looking for Files in Your Google Drive?

This time, in this multi-part series that is designed to help you orient yourself and/or your users in Google Drive, we are going to talk about Shared drives. (Please note that at this time, the Shared drives feature is only available in the G Suite Business, Enterprise, Education, Enterprise for Education, Nonprofits, and Essentials editions. The feature is not available in the G Suite Basic edition or in the free Gmail-based Google Drive. However, G Suite Basic or Gmail.com users can still be invited to collaborate in a Shared drive environment.)

The Shared drives section of Google Drive (available in certain G Suite editions)

Tips for end-users and small businesses:

Last time we talked about how the My Drive section of Google Drive works, and we said it was highly customizable to and by each user. My Drive lets me organize files and folders the way I want, and you the way you want. This ensures flexibility, but in a collaborative, team environment, it can result in some team members seeing a different folder structure than others, because they may have chosen to organize their content differently.

Shared drives take the guesswork out of the folder structure issue, as every member will see the same structure (and only members with certain access levels can add members or move content within a Shared drive). 

Access levels are set as: 

• Manager (highest level; this role is like file Owner in My Drive, the difference being that multiple people can be assigned this Manager role in a Shared drive; people in this role have full rights on the Shared drive including membership management) 
• Content manager (people in this role can organize folders and content and have edit rights)
• Contributor (people in this role have edit rights, but there is a limit on their ability to organize content in a Shared drive; they can create and upload files)
• Commenter 
• Viewer

Did you know? Shared drives used to be called Team Drives.

Is there anything else that keeps you scratching your head in Google Drive? Let me know in the Comments below.

Tips for mid-size companies and large enterprises:

Shared drives are best used by teams as a file storage and collaboration area in Google Drive. Files in a Shared drive are effectively owned by its members, and even if some members leave the organization, their Shared drive files will not be deleted with the user's account, because the other members will continue to own them and keep access to them.

Note though that by virtue of someone being a member of a Shared drive, they will be able to see all the files and folders in that Shared drive.

Need help taming your Google tools or training your users? Contact me for a free first consult: https://www.kloudgem.com/get-in-touch/contact 

Do you know someone who could use these KloudGem tips? Feel free to send them this link: https://www.kloudgem.com/follow-resources/newsletter 

KloudGem website: https://www.KloudGem.com

Part 2: My Drive section - Are You Constantly Looking for Files in Your Google Drive?

Next up is the My Drive section in this multi-part series that is designed to help you orient yourself and/or your users in Google Drive.

The My Drive section of Google Drive

Tips for end-users and small businesses:

If there is one phrase that describes Google Drive's My Drive file storage space, it is: highly customizable. You decide what goes into your My Drive section. This means that your folder structure in your My Drive may look very different from mine, even if we collaborate on the same content as a team; this is because Google lets me organize content the way I want and you the way you want. Each user decides what to put into their My Drive and what not to put in there.

In the My Drive section you can have 2 kinds of content:

• Content that you created: folders, or Google native files, or files you uploaded (such as PDFs or Microsoft Office files, etc.).

👉If you go to Google Drive and just create (or upload) a file, it will get created (or uploaded) directly under the top-level My Drive.

👉If you go to Google Drive and access a folder and then create a file, the file will get created (or uploaded) in that particular folder.

 

Pro Tip 1: If you ever get confused about your My Drive folder structure, you can see it in its entirety if you click the tiny triangle/arrow next to My Drive on the left (see screenshot above).

Pro Tip 2: If you are inside a particular folder in My Drive and your head is spinning, wondering where exactly you are in a larger folder structure, you can look at the folder path at the top of your screen (directly under the search bar).

Pro Tip 3: When you see a small gray triangle/arrow, like the one next to My Drive, it invariably hides more content. Click it; open it up. It is likely to help you. (You will see a similar triangle/arrow in the right-hand side of the search box, too, facing down. That one will help you with your Google Drive searches. We'll talk about that in another post.)

• Content that got shared with you AND that you chose to add or shortcut into your My Drive.

Remember the Shared with me section we talked about last time? If there are files or folders you received in the Shared with me section that you use all the time, I recommend you adding a shortcut to them in your My Drive using the right-click menu. That should make it easier to access those files or folders on a regular basis.

Only accessing a file once or twice? Don't bother to add/shortcut it to your My Drive. That way you can avoid clutter.

So this is what I mean by "highly customizable." It is only your files/folders AND the files/folders belonging to others that you choose to show in the My Drive section that you will see there.

Pro Tip 4: If you are shortcutting a folder structure that you collaborate on into your My Drive, shortcut the top-most folder you have access to. This will help you keep your shortcuts to the minimum and see a more holistic structure.

For example, if you have a team folder structure like:

Team folder

|_ Project folder

|_ Project ABC collaborative work

|_ Project DEF collaborative work

avoid shortcutting the lower level Project ABC collaborative work or Project folder or loose files within; instead, shortcut Team folder (highest) so you can see the entire structure and contents.

Is there anything else that keeps you scratching your head in Google Drive? Let me know in the Comments below.

Tips for mid-size companies and large enterprises:

Pro Tip 5: Consider training your users on folder sharing best practices, such as:

Users who are new to the world of Google Drive often create files directly under their My Drive section and as time passes, they accumulate more and more files to a point where they feel that everything is cluttered and they are constantly looking for files.

Rather than sharing each file, they could consider sharing folders. OR

Sharing the top-most folder to the smallest audience and the deepest folder with the largest. (If they try the reverse, they may find themselves, needing to take away access rights at certain levels from those who are not privy to certain information. This is not only cumbersome, but also error-prone!)

For example, if you have a team folder structure like:

Management folder (share with management only)

|_ Team folder (from this folder down, share extra with internal working team)

|_ Project folder

|_ Project ABC collaborative work (from this folder down, share extra with a vendor if needed)

|_ Project DEF collaborative work (from this folder down, share extra with a vendor if needed)

Need help taming your Google tools or training your users? Contact me for a free first consult: https://www.kloudgem.com/get-in-touch/contact

Do you know someone who could use these KloudGem tips? Feel free to send them this link:

https://www.kloudgem.com/follow-resources/newsletter

KloudGem website: www.KloudGem.com

Part 1: Shared with me section - Are You Constantly Looking for Files in Your Google Drive?

Do you find yourself wondering where your file went that you just created in Google Drive, or where to find the file that your colleague shared with you yesterday? And generally, what's the rhyme or reason to the organization of the content in Google Drive?

Wonder no more! I will show you the lay of the land in a multi-part series.

The Shared with me section of Google Drive

Though it's not at the top of the Google Drive interface, let's start with the Shared with me section, as this often causes a lot of head-scratching.

Tips for end-users and small businesses:

Not to be confused with Shared drives (in G Suite editions where that feature is available), think of the Shared with me section as a catch-all bucket. It catches every single piece of content that's been shared with you.

So if you have been looking for the file your colleague shared with you yesterday, try the Shared with me section of your Google Drive; you'll likely find it there. Alternatively, you can search for your document -- but let's not get ahead of ourselves; we will cover that in another post.

The Shared with me section shows you the document or folder shared with you, and who it is owned by. Additionally, it lets you sort by share date, by last modification, or by the date you last interacted with the document.

Once you've located the content you were looking for, you can even shortcut it into your own My Drive section if you think you will use it often. More on that next time!

Tips for mid-size companies and large enterprises:

The Shared with me section is often an enigma to end-users who are new to Google Drive and G Suite, and it often requires special explanation, such as the above. You might want to consider providing baseline training for using Google Drive efficiently.

Need help taming your Google tools or training your users? Contact me for a free first consult:  https://www.kloudgem.com/get-in-touch/contact  

Are there any areas in Google tools that you have questions about? Share them in the Comments below.

Do you know someone who could use these KloudGem tips? Feel free to send them this link:

https://www.kloudgem.com/follow-resources/newsletter

KloudGem website: www.KloudGem.com