You can use Gemini to help you organize your files on Google Drive

If you work online a lot, chances are your Google Drive has accumulated too many documents, photos, and other files. Unfortunately, Google has generally made it difficult to organize your digital life through Drive, with a web client that doesn’t have a particularly useful search function for finding and moving items. With this in mind, Google recently introduced a tool to help people get their digital lives in order. And before you ask: yes, it uses AI.

Last fall, Google began testing a feature called Organize My Files in Drive and began rolling it out to Workspace users in June. Like many features the company has introduced recently, it builds on Gemini. In this case, “Gemini can help you organize your Drive by suggesting where to move files in bulk based on your organizational structure and policies,” Google explains.

Before you can instruct Gemini to clean up your Google Drive, there are a few requirements worth noting. First, you’ll need a Google AI Pro or AI Ultra subscription. The feature isn’t available for free accounts, meaning it won’t appear in the Google Drive interface if you’re not already a paid user.

If Google Drive is your primary cloud storage, this requirement isn’t the worst thing to spend your money on since the AI ​​Pro subscription, priced at $20 per month, includes 5TB of additional space and a YouTube Premium Lite subscription (among other things).

Organize my files in Drive is also available for Business, Enterprise, and Education customers, but keep in mind that you won’t be able to use your Workplace account to organize your personal files. Additionally, you cannot use Gemini to organize files and folders that you share with your colleagues. The feature only works with private folders.

Then you need to activate Smart features in Google Workspace. This setting is enabled by default in most markets where Google offers Workspace. If you’re not sure if smart features are active on your account, here’s how to check:

1. In Gmail, tap the cog icon.
2. Select See all settings.
3. Under the General tab, scroll down and click Manage Workspace smart features settings.
4. If disabled, enable smart features in Google Workspace.

Once you’ve met the requirements above, using Gemini to organize your files is simple.

1. Open Google Drive on the web and select My disk.
2. Click Suggest file moves towards the top of the interface.
3. Check out Gemini’s suggestions, which you’ll see in a new window.
4. Approve any changes you want Gemini to make by checking the boxes next to each action.

When reorganizing your Google Drive, Gemini may recommend that you create new folders to store your files. You can preview each suggested file or document by browsing the cards that appear when you hover over them. One thing Gemini won’t do for you is rename your files. For this reason, the utility you get from the tool will vary.

Gemini does not appear to read the content of your documents to generate its suggestions. So, you’ll get the most out of its organizational efforts if all your files are already named and follow some sort of naming convention and hierarchy. If you have a lot of untitled documents, Gemini may not be able to help you.

If you have to go through all your files to name them, you might as well organize them into folders while you’re at it. You can then use Gemini in the future to sort any files that you forget to classify correctly after creating them.