Google Drive Basics - What Do The Icons Mean?

As you start to use Google Drive, you will encounter icons that indicate different file types.  Here is a quick guide to what the icons mean.

Google Drive Icons


Google Apps for Education allows you to create documents, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings and forms from your Google Drive.  These file types are created when you click on the Create button in Google Drive (see right).

The icons associated with these file types can be found below.

Icons for Other File Types

Google Apps for Education also allows you to upload files to your Google Drive.  These files may be from Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat or other external applications.  

The icons that Google uses for these file types are as follows: 

Where will I see these icons?

You will see these icons next to your file name in your Google Drive (see below).  By knowing what the icons mean, you can quickly determine what kind of file type you have in your Google Drive.  

You can learn more about Google Drive Basics at Georgia Southern University's web site.

What is Cloud Storage?

What is cloud based storage and why do I need it?

If you use more than one computer (work laptop, home computer, smartphone, tablet), you often want to access the files on one computer while you are on another computer. 

Online cloud storage applications allow you to share your files between devices (and between people). It also offers synchronization - meaning that if store a file in the online storage folder on one computer, the application will automatically update to your other devices.

So, instead of storing your information on your hard drive or carrying around a flash drive, you store your information in an internet drive.  Because the information is available through the internet, it is available any where that you have access to the internet.

As a Google Apps for Education school, we will have access to a Cloud Storage system called Google Drive.  Google Drive can store your pictures, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, etc. 

How safe are your files in Google Drive?
When you go to Google Drive in your browser, notice that the URL in the address bar will begin with https:// rather than http://.  The "s" stands for secure and tells you that a secure communication protocol is being used to transfer your file from your computer to the server and back.  Any data being sent is encrypted so that it cannot be stolen as it travels the internet.

However, this security does not extend to the file being stored on Google's servers.  The files located on drive are secured via your password.  So choose a strong password and don't share your password with others.  

If you would like to read more about Cloud Computing, check out the article below.

• What is Cloud Computing - Good Housekeeping Article