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How Google Drive can help you stay organized as you head back to school

Whether in high school or college, you are busy. In addition to rushing to class, pack a job, family, friends, clubs, sports, and more. Therefore, it is important to stay as organized as possible, especially with your schoolwork.

Google Drive offers a simple and outstanding system for managing and storing files, as well as sharing and collaborating. With these handy tips and tricks, you can start the school year off right. 6 Custom Planners You Can Easily Make With Google Drive. 6 Custom Planners You Can Easily Make With Google Drive. Use Google Drive as a daily planning tool. Take advantage of any part of your life and you can create your own personalized planner that is printable and free. Read more.

Getting started with folders

Folder creation

One of the best ways to organize Google Drive for School is to start by creating a folder for each term. For example, you could create a folder called Lincoln High Fall 2016 or State University Term 3. Then, within the applicable terms folder, create a subfolder for each class such as Calculus, Human Body, Nutrition, or Psychology.

How Google Drive can help you stay organized as you head back to school

To go one step further, you can create additional folders within class subfolders for certain projects and assignments. For example, within Nutrition you can create folders for Week 1 and Week 2 or Ingredient Project and Restaurant Essay. This structured approach allows you to easily stay organized and find what you need quickly.

How Google Drive can help you stay organized as you head back to school

To create a new folder, click New > Folder or right click and select New Folder . Also note that all contained folders, subfolders and files can be viewed in a list or grid format and can also be sorted by name, date modified or date opened. This flexibility allows you to view your drive exactly the way you want.

How Google Drive can help you stay organized as you head back to school

Colouring folders

Once you've created your folders and subfolders, it's obvious that you can give them sensible names. But, Google Drive also allows you to assign colors to its subfolders. Associating a color to the class and assigning it to the subfolder allows you to locate items at a glance and when you're in a hurry. To assign a color, right-click on the folder, mouse over Change color , and then make your choice of color.

How Google Drive can help you stay organized as you head back to school

Working with files

Loading files

You can upload and save a variety of document and media types to Google Drive. From PDF and text documents to image and audio files, you're covered with the most common types. Navigate to the folder or subfolder where you want to upload the file. Then select New> Upload file or right click on a blank spot in the folder and choose Upload files from its context menu. Then just browse to the file location and click Open .

How Google Drive can help you stay organized as you head back to school

Move files

If you start saving files and pictures before you create your folders and subfolders, there's an easy way to move those items around to keep your organization flowing. You can select more than one file at a time by dragging across them or by holding down the Control key. (Ctrl ) as you click each one. Then simply drag and drop them into the appropriate folder or subfolder.

How Google Drive can help you stay organized as you head back to school

Alternatively, you can select the element and choose Move To from the context menu. Then, go forward or back to choose your folder.

Creating Files

Another great way to get organized for school with Google Drive is to create your files with Google features. This is particularly useful if you don't have software like Microsoft Office or Apple's iWork apps. Just click New and then choose your app.

How Google Drive can help you stay organized as you head back to school

Google offers Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Drawings, and My Maps, all of which can be created, edited, and shared from within Google Drive. If you want to download a file The only Google Drive guide you'll ever need to read The only Google Drive guide you'll ever need to read Google Drive is the perfect combination of online file storage and document management tools. We explain how to best use Google Drive online and offline, on your own and in collaboration with others. Read More

How Google Drive can help you stay organized as you head back to school

So if you need to specifically create a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation for the class, as an example, a Google Slides document can be downloaded as a .pptx file for PowerPoint.

Share and collaborate

Many teachers and professors assign group projects for their classes. For many students, these are stressful tasks. However, with the sharing and collaboration features of Google Drive, you can help reduce that stress by easily organizing the project, staying up-to-date, and joining forces with your classmates.

Sharing folders

It may not be often that you want to share an entire folder; however, for group projects, this is a great way to organize homework. For example, if you have a group project for your nutrition class, you can create a folder within that class subfolder specifically for the project.

To share a folder, simply select it and then click Share icon from the top navigation bar or right-click on the folder and choose Share . You can then take the shareable link and send it to your classmates or enter their email addresses to have it sent directly to you. The feature also includes options for those you invite to be able to edit or just view the folder.

How Google Drive can help you stay organized as you head back to school

Share files

For those times when a group project only involves a single file rather than an entire folder, the sharing options are just as easy and come with extremely useful collaboration features. To share a certain file 10 Tips for managing shared files in Google Drive 10 Tips for managing shared files in Google Drive Take Google Drive beyond a file storage system with the many tips and tricks it offers for real-time collaboration. Here are ten tips to help manage your files on Google Drive. Read More You can use the Share button or right-click and use the context menu.

How Google Drive can help you stay organized as you head back to school

Collaborating with comments

With files, you have an additional sharing option beyond your peers' ability to edit or view. You can choose to allow your comments on documents. This is particularly useful for collaboration How to easily collaborate on Google Drive with online annotation How to easily collaborate on Google Drive with online annotation Specialized annotation web applications are available that integrate with Google Drive and make it easy to communicate with others about your work. document. We look at the best annotation tools for Google Drive. Read More all by selecting the Comments Button from within the document. This feature provides a smooth and organized method of collaboration.

How Google Drive can help you stay organized as you head back to school

Additional tips and tricks

The view details sidebar

This handy tool keeps you on top of all the details and activities for the items in your unit. Just click on the Show details Top navigation button. You can then quickly see the details, including the date modified, the location if it's a file, and who last modified it, along with the most recent activity.

How Google Drive can help you stay organized as you head back to school

Keyboard shortcuts

To quickly perform actions like scrolling through your drive, creating files, and jumping to other locations, Google Drive offers many keyboard shortcuts. You can access these by clicking the Settings top navigation button and then choose Keyboard shortcuts . There is also a link to see all the shortcuts available in the Help Center. Using these can help you compress your drive and perform various actions without your mouse.

How Google Drive can help you stay organized as you head back to school

Mobile applications

Whether you're in high school or college, you're always on the go, so having Google Drive on your mobile device is super convenient. Access folders and files, view activity on items, and share with others right from the app. It's available for free on both Android and iOS, so when you're on the go, your files and projects are always close at hand.

How Google Drive can help you stay organized as you head back to school

Browser extensions

When you're doing research online, convenient browser extensions can help 15 Essential Chrome Extensions for Google Drive 15 Essential Chrome Extensions for Google Drive better use of your disk space and the files you keep there. Read More save and view articles for your classes. There are plugins for Firefox and Chrome that make it easy to grab that file or image as soon as you spot it. Some extensions, like GDrive Panel for Firefox [No Longer Available] (shown below) will open your entire Google Drive with one click.

How Google Drive can help you stay organized as you head back to school

The desktop application

If you prefer to have Google Drive right on your desktop, it's available for download on both Mac and Windows machines. With sync across the web app, mobile devices, and desktop app, your important school items are never more than a click or tap away.

How Google Drive can help you stay organized as you head back to school

The search function

If you ever lose a folder or file within Google Drive, the search box at the top can help. Type in a keyword and optionally choose a type to search your drive 7 Google Drive Search Tips to Help You Find Anything 7 Google Drive Search Tips to Help You Find Anything Is your Google Drive a mess? Find everything easier with our help. Google search operators can find just about anything, including text in images (OCR) or content-based photos, for example. your dog. Read more . You'll find your lost item in no time.

How Google Drive can help you stay organized as you head back to school

Get ready for the bell

When it comes to staying organized during the school year, take the stress out of using a full-featured tool like Google Drive. How to organize your Google Drive like a pro. How to organize your Google Drive. Its advanced search functions. They can help you sort and organize your files and you'll always find what you need! Read more . It's easily accessible from anywhere, allows file creation, has convenient sharing and collaboration options, syncs across devices and platforms, and provides simple file storage and management. And if you're missing a specific feature, there's probably a tool that connects to Google Drive. Make Google Drive absolutely amazing with these tools. Make Google Drive absolutely amazing with these tools. Google Drive comes with many smart features. And you can greatly expand its potential with third-party tools. Here we have collected some of the best tools that connect to Google Drive. Read more.

Do you use Google Drive for school and have helpful tips and tricks? Please share your suggestions in the comments below!