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Google Drive is one of the most popular cloud storage services available today. It allows you to store documents, images, videos, audio, or any other type of file you can imagine, on the cloud. You can then access your files from anywhere as long as you have an internet connection. Its purpose extends your hard drive but it’s way more than an online backup.

The standard Google account comes with 15 GB of free cloud-based storage. This storage is shared between all your Google Apps including Gmail and Google Photos. You can purchase additional space at minimal cost (right now $2/mo for 100GB, $10/mo for 2TB). However, most users never come close to using all 15 GB of space.

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Features That Make Google Drive A Must-Have Business Tool

1. You Can Preview Documents

One nice feature of Google Drive is that you can preview any document before you open it. No need to waste time opening multiple files looking for the one you need. Previewing also helps save time if you only need a small amount of information from the document.

 

2. You Can Easily Share Your Files

Google Drive makes it easy to share files with others.

To share a file, you can grab a direct link to that file and gave it to your client or co-worker. Or, you can enter an email address, and Google Drive will invite them to access your data. Super simple!

You also control if the person you shared the file with can edit the file.

 

Related Post: Time-Saving Tasks You Can Handle with Google Docs

 

3. Compatibility Across Platforms

As with all of Google’s apps, you can access Google Drive on your mobile and tablet devices. When you need to work on the go, you can easily access all your files from your mobile device anytime you need them. Even if you’re offline, you can still access your data using the Google Docs Offline Chrome extension.

• Using Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides offline

You can save the most recently opened documents on your computer.

How to turn on offline access

1. On your computer, open the Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides home screen.
   Note: If you want to use offline access for another Google Account, make sure you’re signed in to the right Chrome profile. Learn how to switch Chrome profiles.
2. At the top left, click Main menu   Settings.
3. Turn on Offline.
   Note: If you turn on offline access for Docs, Sheets, Slides, or Drive, then the rest will also be available offline.
4. Open Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides in your Chrome browser to work offline.

 

4. File Organization is a breeze

Once you load your files to Drive, you can then sort them into folders. These folders can be for personal use or shared with others.

If you’re a service provider, client documents can also be stored like this, so you’ll always know where to go to find the items you need. And you can easily share relevant files if any need to be reviewed by the client.

Also, if you use Gmail, you can download email attachments directly to Drive with one click or set up a rule in Zapier to save file attachments automatically to appropriate Drive folders.

 

5. Security

All files added to Google Drive are stored on secure servers in secure data centers. Each file is encrypted when transferred to Google’s servers using SSL, which is the same security protocols for Gmail and other Google apps. Google has also put Two-Factor Authentication in place to help secure your Drive account.

 

Google Drive isn’t just a cloud storage service; It’s so much more!

The Drive app houses Google Docs, Sheets, Forms, Drawings, and Slides. It’s a full-service business software suite that you get for free. Because of Google Drive’s popularity, there are hundreds of third-party apps designed to work and integrate with it, and the sky’s the limit with what you can do for your business.

Google Drive is also an excellent resource for Project Management Virtual Assistants.