Google Drive Quick Reference Guide - How to Use

Sep 26, 2026

Google Drive Quick Reference Guide explains core web-storage workflows for searching, creating, uploading, organizing, and managing files. It covers the Drive homepage sections, supported file types and upload limits, converting files into Google Docs formats, and uploading folders. It also details Autosave behavior, revision history restore steps, downloading offline copies, and sharing settings for collaborators to edit in real time.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryGeneral

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time2 min

AccessFree to download

Google Drive Homepage Overview

Search Drive

Create & Upload

My Drive

Navigation Panel

Download Google Drive

Details Pane

Upload Files and Folders into Google Drive

Supported File Types and Limits

Upload Files Steps

Upload Folders Steps

AutoSave and Revision History

AutoSave

Revision History

Create New Documents and Organize Files

Create New Documents

Organize Your Files with Folders

Download a Local Copy

Share Your Files

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Google Drive
Quick Reference Guide | Supported browsers-The two most recent version of:
􀁸 Internet Explorer Safari
􀁸 Firefox Google Chrome
[http://rebelmail.unlv.edu/drive](http://rebelmail.unlv.edu/drive)
[http://drive.google.com/a/unlv.nevada.edu](http://drive.google.com/a/unlv.nevada.edu) | | --- | --- | Google Drive Homepage Overview 1. Search Drive: Enter your search text and click on the Search icon to find your files. Select the folder first if you would like to search within a specific folder. 2. Create & Upload: Click Create and choose from the list of documents, presentations, or spreadsheets you can create using Google Drive. Click the Upload icon to upload and store up to 5 GB of files. 3. My Drive: The section of Google Drive on the web that syncs to your computer. Any time you modify a file or folder in My Drive, these changes will be mirrored in the local version of your Google Drive folder. 4. Navigation Panel: Links to your starred items and trash. Shared with me lets you view files, folders, and Google Docs that others have shared with you. 5. Download Google Drive: Download and install the Google Drive Client for your Mac/PC to sync files from your computer to Google Drive on the web. 6. Details Pane: Here you can see a preview of the selected file, the time of your last view, when it was last modified, and by whom. You can also view and update the file’s sharing settings and organize it into folders. | Upload Files and Folders into Google Drive
You can upload and convert the following file types into Google Drive for online editing and sharing.
􀁸 Documents: Microsoft Word, OpenOffice, StarOffice, RTF ( . rtf), HTML, or plain text ( .txt) . File size cannot not exceed 2MB.
􀁸 Presentations: Microsoft PowerPoint. File size cannot not exceed 50 MB.
􀁸 Spreadsheets: Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, Comma-Separated-Value files ( .csv), or plain text files ( .txt) . File size cannot not exceed 20MB. To Upload Files:
1. From your Google Drive homepage, click the Upload button at the top sidebar and select Files from the drop-down menu.
2. Select one or more files to upload and click Open.
3. If you wish to convert your files into Google Docs format so that you can edit them online, make sure to check Convert documents, presentations, spreadsheets, and drawings to the corresponding Google Docs format.
4. Click Start Upload. The uploaded files appear under My Drive.
To Upload Folders: (Google Chrome users can skip to step 3)
1. From your Google Drive homepage, click the Upload button at the top sidebar and select Enable folder upload from the drop-down menu.
2. Click Install applet. When the applet is installed successfully, you will see the message Java Applet installed at the top of the page.
3. From your Google Drive homepage, click the Upload button at the top sidebar and select Folder from the drop-down menu.
4. Select a folder and click Open.
5. If you wish to convert your documents into Google Docs format so that you can edit them online, make sure to check Convert documents, presentations, spreadsheets, and drawings to the corresponding Google Docs format.
6. Click Start Upload. All sub-folders and files within that folder will be uploaded to My Drive. | | | | --- | --- | --- | | AutoSave
Files edited in Google Drive are automatically saved every time changes are made. You can see when your document was last saved by looking at the save status at the upper right corner of the screen.
| Revision History
Every time Google Drive saves a document, presentation, or spreadsheet, a revision history is kept so that you can revert to an earlier version. To revert a document, presentation, or spreadsheet to an earlier version, do the following:
1. Open your document, click File and select See revision history.
2. A revisions list is displayed on the right. Changes are color-coded for each collaborator.
3. Locate the versio

FAQs

How do I search for files in Google Drive?

Enter search text in the Search Drive box and use the search icon. Select a specific folder first if you want to search within that folder.

What file types can I upload and what are the size limits?

Upload documents, presentations, and spreadsheets from supported formats such as Microsoft Office files, HTML, and plain text. Document files cannot exceed 2MB; presentations cannot exceed 50MB; spreadsheets cannot exceed 20MB.

How do Autosave and Revision History help me manage changes?

Changes are automatically saved whenever edits are made, and Autosave status shows the last saved time. Revision History lets you restore earlier versions by opening the file and selecting See revision history.

Sep 26, 2026

Uploaded by BigDaveOnline