How to use Google Drive on your Android device

Let's start from the beginning: what is Google Drive? Surely many of you have this application installed by default, but either don’t know what it is or are aware that it is a cloud service but not much more. Well, Drive is essentially just an online space where you can store all your documents. Imagine Drive as a virtual closet.

 © Google Play Store

Why keep your documents in Google Drive?

This 'closet' or space isn’t found on your device or computer, but in the internet. Not on the internet though, because they are visibile only to you. We use the word ‘cloud storage’ because it's as if your documents were floating over your head, waiting for you to need them. To use Google Drive, you need a Google account, but this shouldn’t be a problem for anyone because all Android devices require it to activate some functions.
In this account you’ll store documents and be able to access them from different devices and computers. Simply remember your email address and password of course. But that's not all, Drive also gives you the option to share your documents, photos or notes with anyone else you want. In summary, Drive has three advantages:

• Documents are accessible from anywhere (provided you have an internet connection)
• The ability to share files with friends
• Possibility of saving all your files without fear of losing them

How to save documents in Drive?

Thanks to Android, it’s easy to transfer files to your virtual drive. Just select the document or image and then click on the share option. Then you just need to select Drive. If you have more than one Gmail account, you can choose between the two.

Share a document

Now that you know what it is and how to save files to Google Drive, you are ready to learn some tricks and make the most of this service. Suppose you have to organize a surprise party, for example. It will be helpful to create a document with all the guests and tasks so that you can share the documents with them and give them the possibility to modify it.

Choose ''i'' to access the menu to be able to share your file. © AndroidPIT

To share a document you just have to open it and select the 'i' in the upper right corner of each document. You will see several options, one of which is to add people. Simply enter their email address and then choose whether this person can edit or only view the document, then choose add and you're done.
Another way to share a document saved in Drive is to link the service in Gmail. You just have to open the menu and select the link to 'attach a file' and choose the Drive icon. You will see that you can directly choose the Drive application files.

You can choose who to share it with and whether they can edit or not. Pressing the action overflow menu on the top right corner opens other options, like printing. © AndroidPIT

Printing from Google Drive

If you have a printer connected to the network and also have a Cloud Print app on your device, you can print documents at any time. Just select the document in question and you will see the options to print in the menu.

QuickOffice

Another application to get the most out of Google Drive is QuickOffice (see full Quickoffice review). This application allows you to create Word documents, Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations. It works just like the Office package used on your computer. Select the icon in the upper right corner to save the document. You are able to save it to your memory or external Drive.
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