Google Chrome wants to be one step ahead of you.
What you need to know
- Google is making Drive files accessible from Chrome’s New Tab page.
- When enabled, Chrome will suggest relevant files for you in a card underneath the Search bar.
- The new feature is rolling out over the next two weeks for Workspace, G Suite, Business, and personal accounts.
While Google already makes it easy to find files in Google Drive, the company is giving users more ways to access their Drive files without even opening the website. The latest update to the Chrome browser will provide users with even quicker access to their files by placing them on the New Tab page.
When the feature is enabled, opening a new tab in the Chrome browser will display a card underneath the Search bar that will display select Google Drive files pulled from the primary account being used.
According to Google, Chrome’s “intelligent file suggestions” will pull up documents that might be relevant to you.
End users will be able to access their highest priority Drive files straight from the Chrome Desktop new tab page.
The easily accessible interface will save end user time and mental load to navigate to relevant files.
Drive suggestions aren’t exactly new; the company rolled out a feature in 2019 that lets users search for Drive files straight from the Chrome address bar. Suggestions would populate regardless of whether or not users have previously opened a particular file in Chrome, which was a prior limitation of the feature.
It’s unclear how well Google’s “intelligent” Drive suggestions will work, but given the company’s AI prowess, it would stand to reason that it might end up pulling up files you didn’t even know you needed based on your activity.
Google says the feature will gradually roll out over the next two weeks and be enabled by default on the best laptops for Workspace, G Suite Basic, Business, and personal accounts. The setting can be changed by navigating to the “Customize Chrome” button on the New Tab page.
