Tips for Google Drive

Following tips will help you use Google Drive with both PC and web browser more efficiently.

Add Google Drive to “Send To”

You can add Google Drive to Send To context menu so that you can send files to Google Drive more easily. First, run Windows Explorer and input APPDATA%/Microsoft/Windows/SendTo in the address bar. Then, right click on Google Drive folder in Favorites and drag it to Send To folder. Finally, choose Copy Here in the context menu.

Note: if you drag and drop using left mouse button, only a shortcut is created in Send To instead of content.

Encrypt sensitive files

Google Drive is good place to store important files. However, we should be careful with files containing sensitive information. Hence, before uploading these files, make sure that you encrypt them with a password. If your files are stolen, they cannot be read.

There are many methods to encrypt files. One of simplest ways is to create a encrypted file store. You can use a free program (e.g., 7-Zip) which supports encryption and saves to a file store (e.g., .7z). Remember your password or save it in a safe place.

You can also use BoxCryptor application to create a encrypted drive to store your files. To sync with Google Drive, you need BoxCryptor and a password to access.

Change location of folders

You can move folders to Google Drive to sync user data among computers. To change location of documents, images, video and sub-folders, right click on the folder and choose Properties. Now you can change the location in Location tab.

Empty Trash

You can access to Trash of Google Drive to empty or delete files permanently by clicking on More > Trash on Google Drive web.

Restore previous versions

Google Drive stores previous versions in 30 days or 100 modifying times. You can access to previous versions by right clicking on a file on web and choosing Manage Revisions. You also can delete previous versions to free space.