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How to Add Documents to Google Drive

Before we jump in and learn how to add documents to Google Drive, we need to understand what the product is and what its capabilities are. This article gives you a comprehensive view of Google Drive’s capabilities, how to add documents in Google Drive, and the perfect solution to handle all your PDF document workflow needs. Let’s get started.

Google Drive Overview

Google Drive is part of a vast ecosystem of cloud-based tools developed by Alphabet, Inc., formerly Google, Inc. The most popular one, by far, is Gmail, with a 43% market share and 1.8 billion users all over the globe. Recently, however, Google Drive, its associated cloud storage service, has gained prominence with business users and individuals alike and has already reached over 1 billion users and 5 million businesses as of 2022. Drive does have its drawbacks but is still one of the most popular cloud storage services in the world today.

So, how do you add documents to Google Drive?

How to Add Documents to a Folder in Google Drive

First of all, you need a Google account, which anyone can sign up for. When you have that, you can access Drive by signing in to your account in a browser tab and clicking the grid icon on the top right, which is basically nine dots laid out in a 3 x 3 grid. This is the extended menu to access all other Google apps and tools.

how to add documents to google drive

Once you’re inside, there are a couple of ways to add a document to Google Drive depending on what type of folder you’re adding it to. The processes are essentially the same in terms of adding them, but there are some other considerations as well, as you’ll see. Here are three different scenarios:

Scenario 1: How to Add Documents to Google Drive Folder ‘My Drive’

My Drive is the default folder in Google Drive. It’s where you land when you launch Drive on your browser. Adding a document to this folder is as simple as dragging it from your File Manager application into the browser window and dropping it there. There’s also another way:

1. Launch Drive and go inside the My Drive folder, which is actually your default view.

2. Inside, you can do one of two actions:

a. Click the ‘+ New’ symbol on the top left and select File Upload.
b. Click the small black arrow next to My Drive at the top (not on the left) and choose Upload File.

add document to google drive

3. Both these actions will open your File Explorer or Finder window, from where you can choose the document and click Open or OK.

Scenario 2: How to Add Documents to a Google Drive Folder That is Inside My Drive

If you have created a sub-folder inside My Drive, you just need to add a couple of steps at the beginning of the previous process:

1. Launch Drive in your browser.

2. Double-click the folder inside My Drive. You can either click it from the folder/file list view in the middle panel or expand the left-side My Drive menu item and click the desired folder.

3. Proceed with the process as shown in the previous section.

Scenario 3: How to Add Documents to Shared Google Drive Folders

The process for this is the same as above, but if you aren’t the owner of the shared folder, you will only see it in the Shared With Me section in the left panel. Double-click that folder to go inside, then follow the steps from the previous section.

how to add documents in google drive

One thing to remember about shared Google Drive folders is that access to them is permission-based. If the owner hasn’t shared the folder with you, you can’t see it, let alone access it. Even if they have given you access, it can be one of three permission levels:

● Viewer - This allows you to view files only. You cannot change, add, or delete content. You also cannot delete the folder’s contents.
● Commenter - This level allows you to view and insert comments into the document. All other restrictions apply
● Editor - This gives you full access to the folder’s contents, except the folder itself. However, you can share the main shared folder with someone else if you need to.

Sharing is done by right-clicking a file or folder and selecting the Share option. This opens a window where you can either invite specific people (email IDs) to view, comment, or edit the folder or file, or you can generate a link that is either view-only or with full edit permissions. You can also restrict access to this link for people who are not on your share list.

What Actions Can I Perform after Adding Documents to Google Drive?

There are several ways to manage a file once it has been uploaded to Drive. Here’s a list of the most common actions that are performed regularly:

Open or Preview - Open the file with a compatible Google app or third-party add-on, or preview it
Remove or Rename - Delete the file from Drive (Move to Trash) or change its name to be able to identify the contents, etc.
Share - If you have Edit permission for the folder, you can share a file inside it by right-clicking the file name and selecting Share, as described in the section above
Download, Move the File, or Make a Copy - You can download files in all instances, but if you have Edit permissions, you can either make a copy of the file and move it elsewhere or move the original file itself
More Actions - You can create a link or embed code to publish the file to a web page, you can translate a document that is editable, you can enable various add-ons to handle different file types and to perform other tasks, and you can also make a file available for offline editing - the changes will be synced when an Internet connection is available

How to Add Documents to Wondershare Document Cloud

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Wondershare Document Cloud

Premium 100GB Cloud Storage

High-quality Electronic Signature

Collaborative Online Annotation

Easy and Fast File Sharing

While Drive is suitable for storing a wide variety of file types, Wondershare Document Cloud is designed specifically to handle PDF workflows. When you primarily work with PDF documents, you can use this secure service. The biggest benefit - apart from accessing those files from any connected device with a browser installed - is the PDF electronic signature service that comes included with Wondershare Document Cloud. Let’s look at how to add documents to this unique cloud-based product.

The Document Upload Process

1. In any supported browser (Chrome, Edge, Mozilla, Safari, etc.), log in to Wondershare Document Cloud using a Wondershare ID. You can set up a free account if don’t already have one from a different Wondershare product such as PDFelement, Filmora, etc.

how to add documents to a folder in google drive

2. On the main page, look for and click the Upload Files button. You will see this on the right side of the browser tab - below the dashboard and above the Recent Document Activity list

3. Select your PDF files from your local hard drive and click OK or Open to begin uploading them. Once they have been imported, they will appear in the Recent Document Activity list.

After you upload files, you can do the following actions. Click the … menu icon against a file to see your options:

how to add documents to a shared google drive

● Open and read PDFs
● Download it to any other device using the browser
● Rename the file to track the version, etc.
● Remove the file by deleting it from the cloud
● Electronic Signatures - There are two ways to send a document for others to sign:
○ If you need others to sign the same copy of the document, use the Request Signatures option
○ If you need multiple people to sign individually on their own copies of the document, use the Bulk Send feature

Extend the Capabilities of Wondershare Document Cloud with PDFelement Pro DC

Wondershare PDFelement Pro DC

Simplify your Workflow with the Document Cloud for PDFelement.

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Having a cloud storage service exclusively for PDFs is great, especially when it comes with an electronic signature service built into it. What if you also had a professional PDF editor to help you create and control your PDF workflows in a more holistic manner? That’s exactly how PDFelement Pro DC can complement Wondershare Document Cloud. It is a robust PDF editor with a full suite of functions, and it is integrated with Document Cloud so you can access the online service from within the application itself.

PDF Tools Available in PDFelement Pro DC for Windows

how to add documents to google drive folder

● Full editing capability - Control every piece of content in your PDF files, whether it’s a table, a graph, a link, an image, a block of text, a footer, or a watermark
● Create to and convert from PDF - Accurately render hundreds of file types in PDF or convert PDF into useful file formats so you can edit them using native applications like MS Word for DOCX files and Photoshop for Image formats
● PDF security - Add passwords to restrict access and/or modifications, copying, and printing
● Annotate - Communicate in a clear and crisp manner with professional markup tools and the ability to export annotations
● Forms - End-to-end management of forms, including creation, conversion, data extraction, filling, and signing
● OCR - Accurate text recognition in over 20 different languages to convert scanned files into editable PDFs or for archiving purposes
● Batch Process - Why waste time processing one file at a time when you can leverage the power of bulk processing?
● Organize and Optimize - Get your PDFs right by merging or splitting files, rearranging pages, removing and adding page ranges, etc.

Online Tools Available in PDFelement Pro DC for Windows

The cloud integration feature allows you to access Document Cloud from within the software, making it more convenient to save and fetch PDFs from the cloud and send them for signing.

● Upload open documents to the cloud using the Share button

how to add document to shared google drive

● Download and open a PDF from the cloud with the File → Open menu

how to add documents on google drive

● Clicking Electronic Signature in the Protect tab will trigger your browser to open the Sign tab so you can send the current document for signing

how to add documents to a google drive folder

About the Multi-terminal Experience

The whole idea of adding your documents to Google Drive or Wondershare Document Cloud is to allow you to have a multi-terminal experience. That means you can access and work on your documents regardless of the device or screen type. This becomes even more important in today’s workplace scenario, where working remotely (work from home) is the norm rather than the exception. Furthermore, even though we work remotely, we all have a ‘base station’ that’s usually a PC, hence the need for PDFelement Pro DC - to round out the experience and make it a hybrid one. Now throw in an electronic signature service into the mix and what you have is the ideal combination of tools for working at home, in the office, or out in the field. Try these tools and become more productive than ever before.

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