This tutorial provides instructions for using Google Drive to store and share files online. It explains how to create a Google account, access Google Drive, and navigate the Drive interface. It then covers how to create and manage files on Drive, including uploading files from a computer, using templates, and converting file formats. The tutorial also demonstrates how to share files on Drive and collaborate with other users in real-time.

1. A Tutorial for
using Google
Drive
HOW TO DO?
By Corrien Napoles

2. Google Drive
free service from Google
that allows you to store files
online and access them
anywhere using the cloud.
gives you access to free
web-based applications for
creating documents,
spreadsheets,
presentations, and more.
Reference: GCF Global

3. WHY USE GOOGLE DRIVE?
Google Drive is one of the most popular
cloud storage services available today. If
you've never used a cloud-based storage
service like Google Drive before, take a
moment to consider the advantages of
keeping your files online. Because files can
be accessed from any computer with an
Internet connection, Drive eliminates the
need to email or save a file to a USB drive.
And because Drive allows you to share files,
working with others becomes much easier.
https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/googledriveanddocs/

4. LET'S START WITH
CREATING GOOGLE
ACCOUNT

5. In order to use Google Drive, you will need
a Google account. Google accounts are
free, and signing up for one is fairly
simple. In order to create a Google
account, you'll need to enter some
information, including your name, birth
date, and location. Creating a Google
account will automatically create a Gmail
email address and a Google+ profile.

6. GO TO WWW.GOOGLE.COM. LOCATE AND
SELECT THE SIGN IN BUTTON IN THE TOP-RIGHT
CORNER OF THE PAGE.

7. CLICK CREATE AN
ACCOUNT.

8. THE SIGN-UP FORM
WILL APPEAR.
FOLLOW THE
DIRECTIONS AND
ENTER THE
REQUIRED
INFORMATION.

9. NEXT ENTER YOUR PHONE NUMBER. GOOGLE WILL
SEND A VERIFICATION CODE TO YOUR PHONE THAT
YOU WILL USE TO COMPLETE THE SIGN UP PROCESS.

10. ENTER THE
VERIFICATION
CODE SENT TO
YOUR PHONE
AND CLICK
VERIFY.

11. THE PERSONAL
INFORMATION PAGE
WILL APPEAR.
FOLLOW THE
DIRECTIONS AND
ENTER YOUR
INFORMATION,
INCLUDING YOUR
BIRTH DATE AND
GENDER.

12. REVIEW GOOGLE'S
TERMS OF SERVICE
AND PRIVACY POLICY,
THEN CLICK I AGREE.

13. YOUR ACCOUNT
WILL BE
CREATED.

14. ACCESSING GOOGLE
DRIVE

15. Once you've set up your Google
account, you can access Google
Drive by going to
http://drive.google.com in your web
browser.

16. YOU CAN ALSO NAVIGATE TO GOOGLE DRIVE
FROM ANY GOOGLE PAGE (SUCH AS GMAIL OR
GOOGLE SEARCH) BY SELECTING THE GRID ICON
NEAR THE TOP-RIGHT CORNER, THEN CLICKING
DRIVE.

17. THE GOOGLE DRIVE
INTERFACE

18. Your Google Drive may be empty
right now, but as you begin to
upload and create files you'll need
to know how to view, manage, and
organize them in the interface.

19. CLICK THE
BUTTONS IN THE
INTERACTIVE
BELOW TO BECOME
FAMILIAR WITH THE
GOOGLE DRIVE
INTERFACE.

20. GOOGLE DRIVE FOR
MOBILE DEVICES

21. Available for both iOS and Android,
the Google Drive mobile app allows
you to view and upload files to
Google Drive using your mobile
device.

22. GOOGLE ALSO HAS
SEPARATE MOBILE APPS
FOR CREATING AND
EDITING DOCUMENTS,
SPREADSHEETS, AND
PRESENTATIONS. TO
LEARN MORE, CHECK OUT
GOOGLE'S BLOG POST ON
NEW MOBILE APPS FOR
DOCS, SHEETS, AND
SLIDES.

23. GOOGLE DRIVE FOR
DESKTOP

24. If you prefer to work on the desktop, you
can download the Google Drive desktop
app to your computer. Available for
Windows and OS X, this app makes it a bit
easier to upload your existing files and
work offline. Once it's installed, you'll see a
new Google Drive folder on your
computer. Any files you move into this
folder will automatically be uploaded to
your Google Drive.

25. VISIT
WWW.GOOGLE.COM TO
SIGN UP FOR A GOOGLE
ACCOUNT IF YOU
DON'T ALREADY HAVE
ONE.

26. OPEN GOOGLE
DRIVE.

27. NOTICE ON THE LEFT
SIDE HOW MUCH OF
YOUR STORAGE IS
USED AND HOW MUCH
IS AVAILABLE.

28. TRY CLICKING SOME OF THE MENU OPTIONS,
LIKE SHARED WITH ME AND GOOGLE PHOTOS.

29. CREATING NEW FILES

30. Google Drive gives you access to a
suite of tools that allows you to
create and edit a variety of files,
including documents, spreadsheets,
and presentations.

31. THERE ARE FIVE TYPES
OF FILES YOU CAN
CREATE ON GOOGLE
DRIVE:

32. DOCUMENTS: FOR
COMPOSING LETTERS,
FLYERS, ESSAYS, AND
OTHER TEXT-BASED
FILES (SIMILAR TO
MICROSOFT WORD
DOCUMENTS)

33. SPREADSHEETS: FOR
STORING AND
ORGANIZING
INFORMATION (SIMILAR
TO MICROSOFT EXCEL
WORKBOOKS)

34. PRESENTATIONS: FOR
CREATING SLIDESHOWS
(SIMILAR TO MICROSOFT
POWERPOINT
PRESENTATIONS)

35. FORMS: FOR
COLLECTING AND
ORGANIZING DATA

36. DRAWINGS: FOR
CREATING
SIMPLE VECTOR
GRAPHICS OR
DIAGRAMS

37. TO CREATE A NEW FILE:

38. The process for creating new files is
the same for all file types.

39. FROM GOOGLE DRIVE,
LOCATE AND SELECT
THE NEW BUTTON,
THEN CHOOSE THE
TYPE OF FILE YOU
WANT TO CREATE.

40. WE'LL SELECT GOOGLE DOCS TO CREATE A
NEW DOCUMENT.

41. YOUR NEW FILE WILL APPEAR IN A NEW TAB ON YOUR
BROWSER.

42. LOCATE AND SELECT
UNTITLED DOCUMENT IN
THE UPPER-LEFT CORNER.

43. THE RENAME DIALOG BOX
WILL APPEAR.

44. TYPE A NAME FOR
YOUR FILE, THEN CLICK
OK.

45. YOUR FILE WILL BE
RENAMED.

46. YOU CAN ACCESS THE
FILE AT ANY TIME
FROM YOUR GOOGLE
DRIVE, WHERE IT WILL
BE SAVED
AUTOMATICALLY.

47. SIMPLY DOUBLE-
CLICK TO OPEN
THE FILE AGAIN.

48. YOU MAY NOTICE THAT THERE IS
NO SAVE BUTTON FOR YOUR FILES.
THIS IS BECAUSE GOOGLE DRIVE
USES AUTOSAVE, WHICH
AUTOMATICALLY AND
IMMEDIATELY SAVES YOUR FILES
AS YOU EDIT THEM.

49. USING TEMPLATES

50. A template is a pre-designed file you can
use to quickly create new documents.
Templates often include custom
formatting and designs, so they can save
you a lot of time and effort when starting
a new project. Most templates are
designed to help you create specific
types of files. For instance, you could use
a template to quickly create a resume or
newsletter.

51. YOU CAN FIND A WIDE SELECTION OF TEMPLATES IN THE GOOGLE DRIVE TEMPLATE GALLERY.
UNFORTUNATELY, WE'VE FOUND THAT MANY OF THESE TEMPLATES AREN'T VERY WELL DESIGNED,
AND IT'S OFTEN DIFFICULT TO FIND SPECIFIC TEMPLATES WITHIN THE GALLERY. FOR THIS REASON,
WE RECOMMEND USING TEMPLATES MADE BY GOOGLE, WHICH TEND TO BE OF HIGHER QUALITY
THAN USER-SUBMITTED TEMPLATES.

52. TO USE AN OFFICIAL
GOOGLE TEMPLATE

53. NAVIGATE TO THE TEMPLATE GALLERY.

54. WHEN YOU'VE FOUND A
TEMPLATE YOU WANT
TO USE, CLICK THE
TEMPLATE TO SELECT IT.

55. A NEW FILE WILL BE
CREATED WITH THE
SELECTED TEMPLATE.

56. YOU CAN THEN
CUSTOMIZE THE FILE
WITH YOUR OWN
INFORMATION.

57. MAKE SURE YOU'RE SIGNED
IN TO GOOGLE, AND OPEN
THE GOOGLE DRIVE
TEMPLATE GALLERY.
Additional
Tutorial

58. FIND A TEMPLATE AND
SELECT USE THIS
TEMPLATE.

59. RENAME THE
FILE.

60. TRY GOING BACK TO YOUR GOOGLE
DRIVE TO SEE THAT YOUR NEW FILE
HAS BEEN ADDED.

61. IF YOU'RE ON A DESKTOP COMPUTER, ADD A
FILE FROM YOUR COMPUTER TO YOUR GOOGLE
DRIVE.

62. UPLOADING AND
SYNCING FILES

63. Google Drive makes it easy to store and
access your files online in the cloud,
allowing you to access them from any
computer with an Internet connection. If
you upload files from compatible
programs like Microsoft Word or Excel,
you can even edit them in Google Drive.
Watch the video below to learn how to
upload files to Google Drive.

64. UPLOADING FILES TO
GOOGLE DRIVE

65. Google Drive gives you 15 gigabytes
(15GB) of free storage space to upload
files from your computer and store them
in the cloud.

66. THERE ARE TWO MAIN TYPES OF FILES YOU CAN
STORE ON YOUR GOOGLE DRIVE:

67. FILES YOU CAN EDIT, LIKE
MICROSOFT OFFICE FILES,
PDFS, AND OTHER TEXT-
BASED FILES

68. FILES YOU CANNOT EDIT,
LIKE MUSIC, VIDEOS,
COMPRESSED ARCHIVES
(.ZIP FILES), AND MOST
OTHER FILES

69. Once you upload a file—no matter what
type of file it is—you'll be able to
manage, organize, share, and access it
from anywhere. And because the files on
Google Drive are synced across your
devices, you'll always see the most
recent version of a file.

70. You can also preview many different file
types, even if you don't have the
software required for that file on your
computer. For example, you can use
Google Drive to preview a Photoshop
file, even if Photoshop is not installed on
your current computer.

71. CONVERTING FILES TO
GOOGLE DRIVE
FORMATS

72. If you are uploading files you plan to edit
online, you will need to convert them to
Google Drive format. Converting allows
you to edit a file and collaborate with
others easily. Only certain file types—like
Microsoft Office files and PDF
documents—can be converted to
Google Drive formats.

73. Unfortunately, this conversion isn't
always perfect. Depending on the level
of formatting used in the original
document, the converted document
could turn out looking quite different, as
shown in the example below.

74. Conversion changes aren't always just
cosmetic—you may even lose information from
the original file. You should always review a
file that's been converted before sharing it
with others. Remember, you always have the
option to store your files in their original file
format if you'd prefer not to edit files online.

75. UPLOADING FILES AND
FOLDERS

76. It's easy to upload files from your
computer to Google Drive. If you're
using the Google Chrome web browser,
you can even upload entire folders.

77. FROM GOOGLE DRIVE,
LOCATE AND SELECT
THE NEW BUTTON,
THEN SELECT FILE
UPLOAD.
To upload a file:

78. LOCATE AND SELECT THE
FILE(S) YOU WANT TO
UPLOAD, THEN CLICK
OPEN.

79. THE FILE(S) WILL BE
UPLOADED TO YOUR
GOOGLE DRIVE.

80. DEPENDING ON YOUR BROWSER AND
OPERATING SYSTEM, YOU MAY BE ABLE TO
UPLOAD FILES BY CLICKING AND DRAGGING A
FILE FROM YOUR COMPUTER INTO YOUR
GOOGLE DRIVE.

81. CLICK THE NEW
BUTTON, THEN
SELECT FOLDER
UPLOAD.
To upload a folder:

82. LOCATE AND SELECT THE FOLDER YOU
WANT TO UPLOAD, THEN CLICK OK.

83. THE FOLDER AND THE FILES WITHIN IT WILL BE
UPLOADED TO YOUR GOOGLE DRIVE.

84. CONVERTING FILES TO
GOOGLE DOCS FORMAT

85. When you upload certain types of files—
such as Microsoft Office files or PDF
documents—you'll only be able to view
those files. If you want to edit these
types of files in Google Drive, you'll need
to convert them to Google Docs format.

86. LOCATE AND DOUBLE-CLICK THE FILE YOU WANT TO
EDIT.

87. A PREVIEW OF THE FILE
WILL APPEAR. SELECT
OPEN AT THE TOP OF
THE SCREEN.

88. THE FILE WILL BE
CONVERTED TO A
GOOGLE DOCUMENT AND
APPEAR IN A NEW TAB.

89. IF YOU GO BACK TO YOUR
GOOGLE DRIVE, YOU'LL SEE
THAT THERE ARE NOW TWO
COPIES OF THE FILE: THE
ORIGINAL FILE AND THE NEW
VERSION IN GOOGLE DOCS
FORMAT.

90. YOU CAN SET GOOGLE DRIVE TO CONVERT
YOUR FILES AUTOMATICALLY WHEN YOU
UPLOAD THEM. CLICK THE GEAR ICON,
SELECT SETTINGS, THEN CHECK THE BOX
NEXT TO CONVERT UPLOADS.

91. OPEN GOOGLE DRIVE AND
UPLOAD A MICROSOFT
OFFICE FILE. IF YOU DON'T
HAVE AN OFFICE FILE ON
YOUR COMPUTER, YOU
CAN DOWNLOAD A COPY
OF OUR EXAMPLE.
Addtional
Tutorial

92. CONVERT YOUR FILE
TO A GOOGLE
DOCUMENT.

93. IF YOU USED OUR
EXAMPLE FILE, YOUR
SCREEN SHOULD LOOK
SOMETHING LIKE THIS:

94. SHARING AND
COLLABORATING ON
FILES

95. Google Drive makes sharing your files
simple. It also allows multiple people to
edit the same file, allowing for real-time
collaboration. Watch the video below to
learn more about these features.

96. LOCATE AND SELECT THE FILE YOU
WANT TO SHARE, THEN CLICK THE
SHARE BUTTON.

97. A DIALOG BOX WILL APPEAR. IN THE PEOPLE BOX, TYPE
THE EMAIL ADDRESSES OF THE PEOPLE YOU'D LIKE TO
SHARE THE FILE WITH. IF YOU WANT, YOU CAN ADD A
MESSAGE THAT WILL BE EMAILED TO THE PEOPLE YOU
SHARE THE FILE WITH.
CLICK SEND. YOUR FILE
WILL BE SHARED.

98. WHENEVER YOU SHARE A FILE IN A GOOGLE DRIVE
FORMAT, YOU'LL HAVE THE OPTION TO ALLOW YOUR
CO-EDITORS TO CHANGE AND EDIT THE FILE. GOOGLE
DRIVE OFFERS SEVERAL TOOLS THAT ENHANCE
COLLABORATION BY MAKING IT EASIER TO
COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR CO-EDITORS AND TO SEE
WHICH CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE AND BY WHOM.
Collaborating Tools

99. CLICK THE BUTTONS
IN THE INTERACTIVE
BELOW TO LEARN
ABOUT THE
COLLABORATION
FEATURES IN
GOOGLE DRIVE.
Suggesting mode
Google Drive also has a feature called Suggesting mode, which is similar to the Track Changes
feature in Microsoft Office. This allows each collaborator to make changes, while giving the
other collaborators a chance to review the changes before making them permanent. This page
has more information about how to make suggested edits and accept or reject other people's
changes.

100. Thank you!!!
HOW TO DO? (A TUTORIAL)
Hope you enjoy!