The exchange of files through the Internet has become a key tool during these weeks, in which we have to work from home due to the coronavirus epidemic. Fortunately, it is something that we can do very easily thanks to the availability of multiple free tools for this purpose. In this article we explain in a very simple way, how you can share files and folders with your contacts using Google Drive .
What is Google Drive and how does it work
Google Drive is a cloud file storage system created by Google. It is a platform that offers us 15 GB of storage space for free , so that we can save any type of file.
A very interesting feature of Google is that in addition to storing our files, we can share them with other users very easily using a link. The virtues of Google Drive beyond sharing files with other users, since you can also use this technology to have your important documents stored in the cloud, and be able to access them from anywhere, with the only condition of having Internet access .
In case you need more storage, you can resort to the Google Drive payment plans, which offer you 100 GB for 1.99 euros per month, 200 GB for 2.99 euros, and 2 TB for 9.99 euros per month .
How to upload files to Google Drive
The first step to share a file or folder with Google Drive is to upload it to the servers of this platform. To do this, you just have to go to the official Google Drive website, and log in with your Google account .
Once inside the platform, you will see a " + New " button in the upper left part of the main interface. This is the button that controls most of the Google Drive functions, including the ones we need to use to upload a file, upload a folder, create a new folder within the drive, and even create a text document, a spreadsheet. , or a slide show.
In this case, we are interested in selecting the option to upload a file or a folder . Once we do, Windows 10 explorer will open so we can locate the file or folder to upload.
Another option that you can use to upload a file or folder is to drag that item to the main window of the Google Drive interface. The tool offers us both possibilities, so that we can use the one that is most comfortable for us.
Google Drive does not put any limits on the size of the files and folders that you can upload to the platform, with the exception of Google Docs, Slides and Sheets files. Docs and Sheets are limited to 50MB and Slides is limited to 100MB.
How to share files and folders with Google Drive
Once your file is uploaded to the Google Drive servers, you can share it with any of your contacts. The same applies to folders.
To share a file or folder with Google Drive, you just have to click on it with the right mouse button. Doing so will open a pop-up menu with several options, such as the two that interest us in this case are "Share" and "Get link to share . "
Get link to share will provide you with a link, which you can send to any of your contacts to access the file or folder in question. The "Share" function is more advanced , since it allows you to add users so that they can access. For this you will have to enter the username, or your email.
This second option also offers you finer control over the permissions that your collaborators will have on the file or folder that you have shared. The available permissions are "can organize, add and edit" and "can only view".
This is something that can be very useful, for example, if you want a certain user to only be able to see the information in those files, but not modify it.
Google Drive also offers you an application for your computer or smartphone
This time the web interface is the most common way to use Google Drive, but this service also offers us an application that we can install on our Windows 10, Mac or Linux computer, as well as on our smartphone if we wish.
Mobile applications can be easily found on Google Play and the App Store . As for the applications for computers, you can download them from the official website of Google Drive.
In this case, we are going to use the Windows 10 application to show you the process of sharing files and folders. In the rest of the applications the procedure will be the same, except for small changes that will be made in the program interface.
Once we have installed the application, a small wizard will open that you do not want during the initial configuration. We will have to log in with our Google account, and then we will be offered the possibility of synchronizing a backup of the most important files on our computer, as well as synchronizing all the content of Google Drive in a folder on our PC.
Once you have completed the initial setup, you will be able to access the Google Drive folder from the Windows 10 file explorer . To share a file to a folder, you just have to click the right mouse button and use the corresponding option, a process almost identical to the web version of Google Drive.
Here ends our tutorial on how to share files and folders using Google Drive, we hope you find it very useful. Remember that you can leave a comment if you have any questions, we will be happy to help you. You can also share the post to help other users through these difficult days.