Google Drive is a product of Google apps that allows for real time collaboration through documents, spreadsheets, drawings, presentations, forms and drawings as well as a platform for file storage and sharing.

You get 15 GB of space in your Drive for free. Learn what takes up space in Google Drive and where to buy more space.

Step 1: Go to drive.google.com

On your computer, go to drive.google.com. You’ll see "My Drive," which has:

• Files and folders you upload or sync

• Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms you create

Learn how to back up and sync files from your Mac or PC.

Step 2: Upload or create files

You can upload files from your computer or create files in Google Drive.

• Upload files and folders to Google Drive

• Work with Office files

• Create, edit, and format Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides

Step 3: Share and organize files

You can share files or folders, so other people can view, edit, or comment on them.

• Share files from Google Drive

• Share folders from Google Drive

• Make someone else the owner of a file

To see files that other people have shared with you, go to the "Shared with me" section

The latest versions of Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms are compatible with the following operating systems and browsers.

Browsers

Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms work with the 2 most recent versions of the following browsers (unless specified otherwise). Make sure cookies and JavaScript are turned on for your browser.

• Chrome

• Firefox

• Windows only: Internet Explorer 11, Microsoft Edge

• Mac only: Safari

Other browsers may work, but you might not be able to use all of the features.

Computer operating systems

Backup and Sync

You can download and use Backup and Sync on certain operating systems:

• Windows: Windows 7 and up, not including Windows Server editions (see which version of Windows you're using)

• Mac: Sierra (10.12) and up (see which version you're using)

• Linux: Backup and Sync isn't currently available using the Linux operating system. You can use Google Drive on the web at drive.google.com

If you aren't connected to the Internet, you can still view and edit files, including:

• Google Docs

• Google Sheets

• Google Slides

Save and open Google Docs, Sheets & Slides offline

Before you turn on offline access

• You must be connected to the internet.

• You must use the Google Chrome browser.

• Don't use private browsing.

• Install and turn on Google Docs Offline Chrome extension.

• Make sure you have enough available space on your device to save your files.

Open Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides offline

1. Open Chrome. Make sure you're signed in to Chrome.

2. Go to drive.google.com/drive/settings.

3. Check the box next to "Sync Google Docs, Sheets, Slides & Drawings files to this computer so that you can edit offline."

Save Google Docs, Sheets & Slides for offline use

1. On your computer, go to drive.google.com.

2. Right click the Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides file you want to save offline.

3. Turn on "Available offline."

To save multiple files offline, press Shift or Command (Mac)/Ctrl (Windows) while you click other files.

Preview offline files

1. On your computer, go to drive.google.com.

   • Make sure you turn on offline access first.

2. At the top right, click Ready for offline .

3. Click Offline preview.

Learn about Drive File Stream and Backup and Sync.

Supported file types

Any file type can be stored in Drive. These are the most common file types you can preview in Google Drive:

General files

• Archive files (.ZIP, .RAR, tar, gzip)

• Audio formats (MP3, MPEG, WAV, .ogg, .opus)

• Image files (.JPEG, .PNG, .GIF, .BMP, .TIFF, .SVG)

• Markup/Code (.CSS, .HTML, .PHP, .C, .CPP, .H, .HPP, .JS, .java, .py)

• Text files (.TXT)

• Video files (WebM, .MPEG4, .3GPP, .MOV, .AVI, .MPEGPS, .WMV, .FLV, .ogg)

Adobe files

• Autodesk AutoCad (.DXF)

• Illustrator (.AI)

• Photoshop (.PSD)

• Portable Document Format (.PDF)

• PostScript (.EPS, .PS)

• Scalable Vector Graphics (.SVG)

• Tagged Image File Format (.TIFF) - best with RGB .TIFF images

• TrueType (.TTF)

Microsoft files

• Excel (.XLS and .XLSX)

• PowerPoint (.PPT and .PPTX)

• Word (.DOC and .DOCX)

• XML Paper Specification (.XPS)

• Password-protected Microsoft Office files

Apple files

• Editor files (.key, .numbers)

File sizes

The following are the maximum file sizes you can store in Google Drive:

Documents

• ​Up to 1.02 million characters.

• If you convert a text document to Google Docs format, it can be up to 50 MB.

Spreadsheets

• ​Up to 5 million cells or 18,278 columns (column ZZZ) for spreadsheets that are created in or converted to Google Sheets.

• Up to 5 million cells or 18,278 columns for spreadsheets imported from Microsoft Excel. The limits are the same for Excel and CSV imports.

  • If any one cell has more than 50,000 characters, that single cell will not be uploaded.

Presentations

• ​Up to 100 MB for presentations converted to Google Slides.

Google Sites (new)

• Up to 200,000 characters per page.

• Up to 10,000 images per site.

• Up to 1,000 pages (max 10 million characters).

All other files

• ​Up to 5 TB.

Download a file

1. Go to drive.google.com.

2. Click a file to download.

   • To download multiple files, press Command (Mac) or Ctrl (Windows) while clicking other files.

3. Right-click and click Download.

Note: You can't drag a file or folder directly to your desktop.

If you can't download a file

If you can't download a file, the owner may have disabled options to print, download, or copy for people with commenting or viewing access.

You can edit, comment, and collaborate on Microsoft Office files using Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides in one of the following ways:

• Open, edit, and save Microsoft Office files in Google Drive

• Convert Microsoft Office files to Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides

• Comment on Microsoft Office files in Google Drive preview

• Edit Office files in Drive with the Office Compatibility Mode Chrome extension

Open, edit, and save as Microsoft Office files in Google Drive

When you upload Microsoft Office files to Google Drive, you can directly edit, comment, and collaborate on Microsoft Office files using Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. All changes will be auto-saved to the file in its original Microsoft Office format. Learn how to use Office editing.

Convert Microsoft Office files to Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides

If you want to use Add-ons, Apps Scripts, protected ranges or translate options, you can convert an Office file to Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides. When you convert, you’ll make a copy of your Microsoft Office file. Learn how to convert a Microsoft Office file.

Comment on Microsoft Office files in Google Drive preview

You can leave and read comments on Microsoft Office files, PDFs, images, and other files in Google Drive preview without making any changes to the original file. Learn how to comment on these files in Google Drive.

Use Microsoft Office files with a Chrome extension

Important: This extension may have compatibility issues with the Office editing mode. If you open a file in Office editing mode, you need to disable this extension. Learn how to disable a Chrome extension.

Microsoft Office Compatibility Mode is a Google Chrome browser extension that allows you to open and edit Microsoft Office files. Learn how to edit with Microsoft Office Compatibility Mode.