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The file browser

The middle of the web app shows the folder you have open. Folders are listed first under Folders, then files under Files. The path at the top shows where you are. Click any part of it to go back up. On a long path, the middle folders fold into …: click it to pick one. For the sidebar, the agent panel and Settings, see Interface overview.
A folder in list view with New, the list and grid buttons and sort in the toolbar

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Views and sorting

The toolbar above your files has:
  • New, to create or add files. See The New menu.
  • List view and Grid view.
  • A sort order button, to switch between ascending and descending.
  • A sort menu: Date or Name.

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Opening files and folders

  • On a computer: click once to select, double-click to open. With the keyboard, Tab to it and press Enter.
  • On a touch screen: tap to open.
  • To open a file in a new browser tab, click ⋮ and choose Open.
A file that’s still uploading or processing is faded and can’t be opened until it’s ready.

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Selecting several items

  • ⌘-click (Mac) or Ctrl-click (Windows) to add or remove one item.
  • Shift-click to select everything between the last item you clicked and this one.
  • Drag a box across empty space to select everything it touches.
  • ⌘A or Ctrl+A to select everything in the folder.
Click outside the files to clear the selection. When you select something, a bar appears at the bottom of the screen with the number selected and these actions: The bar doesn’t appear in folders you can only view.

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The file menu

Point at a file or folder and click ⋮ for its menu: Owners, admins and members see the ⋮ menu on workspace files. On files shared with you, you see it when you have Full Access. Viewers don’t see it, but they can still open files and download them from the viewer. Icons next to a file name tell you how The Drive AI reads it:
  • A sparkle: Included in assistant’s knowledge.
  • A crown: the file type needs a higher plan to be read (Upgrade to unlock).
  • A faded warning: File type is not supported by the assistant.

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The right-click menu

Right-click an empty part of the file browser for:
  • Organize this folder (⌘K): AI files everything in this folder into subfolders. Only shown when the folder has files. It has its own monthly allowance, shown in Settings > Usage.
  • Create New File
  • Create New Folder
  • Upload Files
  • Import from Cloud

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The New menu

Click New in the toolbar:
  • New File creates a note. Enter a name and click Create.
  • New Folder creates a folder. Enter a name and click Create.
  • Upload opens the upload window. See Uploading files.
  • Import from Cloud copies files in from a connected drive. Needs a plan with connected drives.
Viewers don’t see New.

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Moving, copying and renaming

To move files or folders, use any of these:
  • Click ⋮ > Move to, or select several and click Move to in the bottom bar. Pick a folder, or type in Search folders…, then click Move here.
  • Drag them onto a folder in the file browser.
  • Select them, press ⌘X or Ctrl+X, open the destination folder and press ⌘V or Ctrl+V.
To copy, click ⋮ > Make a Copy for a copy in the same folder. To copy into another folder, select the items, press ⌘C or Ctrl+C, open the destination folder and press ⌘V or Ctrl+V. A copy pasted into the same folder gets “(copy)” in its name. To rename, click ⋮ > Rename. To move, rename or organize many files at once, ask the agent, for example “Move every PDF from 2023 into /Archive/2023.” It shows you the plan first, and you can undo it.

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Recent, Shared and Connected

These sections are in the left sidebar.
  • Recent lists up to five of the most recently changed files. Click one to open it.
  • Shared lists files and folders other people have shared with you. You see only what was shared, not the rest of their workspace. See File sharing.
  • Connected lists the Google Drive, OneDrive, SharePoint and Dropbox drives the agent can see. It appears once a drive is connected. Click a drive to browse it.
Connected drives are Read only here: you can browse their folders and switch between list and grid view, and clicking a file opens it in its own service in a new tab. To change files on a connected drive, ask the agent or use the drive itself. See Connected drives.

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The file viewer

Open a file to see it in the viewer. The toolbar at the top keeps Share, Publish and Agent for the file you have open. See File sharing and The agent.

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PDFs

The PDF toolbar has:
  • Zoom In, Fit to width and Zoom Out.
  • Page arrows and a page box. Type a page number to jump to it.
  • A highlighter, with a color picker and Opacity and Thickness sliders, and an eraser with Eraser Thickness. Highlights are saved with the file.
  • Save Filled PDF, for a PDF with form fields. Fill in the fields, then click it to save the filled-in PDF over the original. This replaces the file and doesn’t keep the earlier version.
  • Request Signature. See E-signatures.
  • Download.
If you can only view the PDF, the highlighter, eraser, Save Filled PDF and Request Signature aren’t shown.
A PDF open in the viewer with zoom, page, highlighter and download controls

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Documents, spreadsheets and text

Word documents, spreadsheets, CSV, Markdown, text, code, JSON and log files are shown in the viewer for reading. Click Download to open a file in its own app. To change one in place, ask the agent.
  • Markdown files can be shown Rendered or as Source.
  • Chart and diagram files can also be downloaded as a picture with PNG.
  • PowerPoint decks and older .doc files are shown in Microsoft’s online viewer.

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Images, audio and video

Images open in the viewer, and audio and video play there. Each has a download button. When a video has a transcript, click View Transcript to read it, and Copy Transcript to copy it.

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Notes

A note is a document you write and edit inside The Drive AI. Create one with New > New File, or ask the agent to write one.
  • Type / (Press / for menu) to add headings, lists, task lists, quotes, code, tables, images and video, columns, callouts, dividers and drawings.
  • Changes save as you type. If someone else has the note open, you see their edits as they make them.
  • If you can only view the note, it opens read-only.
Click Search in the left sidebar, or press ⌘P (Mac) or Ctrl+P (Windows).
1

Type part of a name

Search finds files and folders whose name contains what you type, or that sit in a folder whose name does. Each result shows its folder path.
2

Narrow it down

Use the filters under the search box:
  • Type: All types, Folders or Files.
  • Date: Any time, Today, Past week, Past month or Past year, by when it was last modified.
  • Index status: All, Indexed or Not indexed.
  • File types: tick the kinds of file to show.
  • Sort: Name, Date modified or Date created.
Click Clear to reset the filters.
3

Open a result

Click it, or use the arrow keys and press Enter.
With nothing typed, search lists the items at the top level of your workspace. If something you just added is missing, click the refresh button next to the filters.

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Search inside files

Search matches names, not what’s inside files. To find a file by its contents, ask the agent. It can look for exact words inside your documents, or find documents by what they’re about:

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Keyboard shortcuts

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What’s next?

Versions and Trash

Get back an earlier version or a deleted file.

The agent

Find, read and reorganize files by asking.