Google Drive – Quick access to your files

You may have hundreds of files on your Google Drive, but if you’re like me, you end up only using certain ones all the time.

Drive has a couple of options to help you get to those files or folders quickly. 1) Starring them; 2) Using Quick Access which predicts what files you will need.

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Starring files and folders

Google Drive has the option to “star” them, so that they appear in the “Star” filter.

1) Right-click on the file or folder you want to star.

If you want to star multiple files or folders in the same folder, remember you can do that by selecting them either holding down Ctrl or Shift, selecting them and then right-clicking.

2) Click on “Add to Starred”. A little star will appear next to your file or folder.

3) Go to the menu on the left-hand side of the screen and click “Starred”. Here you’ll find your starred files and folders for quick access.

If you want to remove them from this filter. Just right-click on a file or folder and click “Remove from Starred”.

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Quick access

Another way to access your files quickly is to use “Quick access”. These are files Drive’s AI believes you will need.

According to Google:

“Quick Access intelligently predicts and surfaces files based on, among other things:

• who specific files are frequently shared with
• when relevant meetings occur
• what files are used at specific times of the day”

To turn it on (or off), click the setting cog wheel at the top-right of the main Drive screen and select “Settings”.

Scroll down a little and you’ll find the option to turn Quick access on or off.

In the Drive window you’ll see at the top the Quick Access section, which will display a few files or folders.

I’ve found if you use files at particular times of the day, they do seem to appear there, when you want to use them.

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