Google has announced several small but welcome changes to the way it works file manager works in Google Drive.
In the coming weeks, a new multi-select file toolbar, which will make it clearer and easier to make bulk changes, will appear in the cloud backup application, while new “search chips” will find files quickly by filtering by criteria such as file type, when a document was last modified, and who documents were shared with.
The news is included various updates to the tech giant online collaboration ecosystem Google Workspaceincluding an aesthetic refresh of the “Material Design”, several new “smart canvas” features, plus an overhaul of the word processor google docs.
Google Drive is changing
All this talk of “smart chips” can be a bit confusing, frankly, so we’ll keep it simple. When the feature is available, you can filter by specific document types, including documents, spreadsheets, forms And photosdirectly from the My Drive overview using new drop-down menus.
The filter options also include pdf files, although unfortunately it doesn’t look like you’ll be able to filter by specific file types in the new part of the interface.
The multi-select toolbar should be much easier to get your head around, clearly providing bulk actions for sharing, downloading, and deleting files rather than hiding them in a cumbersome right-click context menu.
While these quality-of-life improvements are welcome, they’re not earth-shattering by any means, and it’s a wonder Google has waited this far to drag Drive, along with the rest of Google Workspace, into the current century.