Organize your files in Google Drive

To organize your files in Drive, you can create folders to make files easier to find and share with others.

Note: If you organize a lot of files or folders at once, it might take time for the changes to appear.

Create, move & copy files

Create a folder

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
On the left, click New Folder.
Enter a name for the folder.
Click Create.

Important: To move a file, you must have permission to move the file from the source to the destination, otherwise the file won’t be moved. A shortcut is created in the destination folder instead.

There are multiple ways to move items to a file or folder. You can do this while you access an item on:

The main window
The left panel
Google Drive search results

Tip: If you move folders with a lot of files or subfolders, it takes time for you to find the changes.

Manually move to a folder

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
Right-click the item you want to move.
Click Organize > Move .
Select or create a folder.
Click Move.

Drag to a folder

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
Drag the item you want to move.
Move the item over the folder and release it.

Tip: To move items into any folder in Google Drive, go to the left panel.

Use keyboard shortcuts to move to a folder

Important: This functionality is only available on Chrome.

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
Select a file.
To cut the file, press Ctrl + x.
Go to the new location.
Select an option:
- To paste the file into the new location, press Ctrl + v.
- To create a shortcut of the file into the new location, press Ctrl + Shift + v.

Tip: Users can move across browser windows.

Create a shortcut for a file or folder

Shortcuts make it easier for you or your team to find and organize files and folders in multiple Google Drives. A shortcut is a link that references another file or folder.

Create a shortcut

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
Right-click the file or folder you want to make a shortcut for.
Click Organize > Add shortcut .
Choose where you want the shortcut to be.
Click Add shortcut.

Tip: You can create a copy of a shortcut in a Drive folder, but you can’t create a shortcut to another shortcut file.

Use keyboard shortcuts to create a shortcut

Important: This functionality is only available on Chrome.

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
Select the file.
To copy the file to the clipboard, press Ctrl + c.
Go to the new location.
To paste the shortcut into the new location, press Ctrl + Shift + v.

Delete a shortcut

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
Right-click the shortcut you want to remove.
Click Remove.

To permanently delete the shortcut, empty your trash.

Important: If you delete a shortcut, the original file is not deleted.

Create a link to a file or folder in other applications

Important: This functionality is only available on Chrome.

With Google Drive, you can copy and paste the name of a file and/or folder in Google Editor documents and other applications.

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
Select a file.
Select an option:
- To copy the file or folder name to the clipboard as a link, press Ctrl + c.
- To copy the file or folder URL to the clipboard as a link, press Ctrl + Shift + c.
To paste the file or folder into a Google document or other applications, press Ctrl + v.

Make a copy of a file

Important:

This functionality is only available on Chrome.
This functionality isn't available on Drive for desktop.
You can’t copy folders, only files.
To find a folder easily, you can create a shortcut to a folder.

Manually copy a file

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
Right-click a file.
Click Make a copy .

Use keyboard shortcuts to copy a file

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
Select a file.
To copy the file to the clipboard, press Ctrl + c.
Go to the new location.
To make a copy of the file into the new location, press Ctrl + v.

Tip: Users can move across browser windows.

Delete a file or folder

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
Right-click the file or folder you want to delete.
Click Remove.

If you accidentally put an item in the trash, you can restore your item.

Change the color of your folder

You can customize the color of folders and shortcuts to folders in your My Drive and shared drives. If you change any colors, it only applies to your version of Drive.

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
Right-click the folder you want to change.
Click Change color and choose the color you want.

Organize your files in Google Drive

Create, move & copy files

Create a folder

Manually move to a folder

Drag to a folder

Use keyboard shortcuts to move to a folder

Create a shortcut

Use keyboard shortcuts to create a shortcut

Delete a shortcut

Manually copy a file

Use keyboard shortcuts to copy a file

Related resources

Need more help?

Try these next steps: