Google Drive Organization

Drive is a widely used cloud storage space. Education has taken hold of this and constantly takes advantage of the many offerings that come with the Google Apps suite. Google Drive, at times, can be daunting. This post will outline some quick tips and tricks on how to organize your Drive. Color Code your Folders Color coding is a very simple way for you to visualize your categories or just to make distinctions between the folders. Some teachers use color schemes to separate share folders with their folders, or students work with their work... The possibilities are endless. It is very easy to change your folder color. Right click on the folder and select change color. There is not a huge selection, but enough to get the job done. Layer your Folders Placing folders inside of folders is a quick and easy way to cut down the clutter in your drive. Find common themes and start to build your layers. Be cautious with this as too many layers makes for many clicks and headaches down the road. Find the balance between some clutter and too many layers. Star Items Starring an item is probably the fastest way to find your commonly used items. Typically, I have less than 10 starred items. This keeps the section clear while still allowing me to get to the items I want to quickly. Starring an item is as easy as right clicking then selecting add a star. You will find these items in the starred category on the under the Recent tab. Move items into your Drive They shared with me can be the most frustrating section of your Drive, which is why I ignore it. Folders and files that I will use or need to have quick access to are moved into my drive. Items that I do not need to stay in the shared with me. The beauty of moving folders into your drive from shared with me is that any other items that are dropped into that folder from your collaborator, are synced with your drive so you dont need to move more items into your drive because they are already there. You can move items into your drive by clicking on the item, then choosing add to your drive from the button on the top right. Name them Carefully Naming anything in Drive is very important. This provides you with what exactly is in/on the item along with the ability to search for it. The search bar in Drive is often overlooked. It comes in handy when you have many items and need to find a specific one. Type in the name of the item or even something that is within the document and the search bar in Drive will find it for you.