The Clutter of Quick Access Suggestions
When you log into your Google Drive, the very first thing you see at the top of the interface is the “Suggested” or “Quick Access” row. This section displays a row of file thumbnails that Google’s algorithm predicts you might want to open, based on your recent activity and calendar events. While designed to save time, this row takes up a significant amount of vertical screen space, pushing your actual folders further down the page. Furthermore, if you are sharing your screen, you may not want your colleagues or clients to see thumbnails of the specific files you were working on earlier.
How to Disable Suggested Files in Google Drive
You can easily reclaim your screen real estate and improve your privacy by turning off the Quick Access feature in the Drive settings.
1. Open Google Drive in your web browser.
2. Click the gear icon located in the top-right corner of the screen.
3. Select Settings from the drop-down menu.
4. Ensure you are on the General tab in the left-hand sidebar.
5. Scroll down to the section labelled Suggested files.
6. Untick the checkboxes next to Show suggested files in My Drive and Show suggested files in Shared with me.
7. The settings will save automatically. You can click the arrow or the settings cog to return to your main Drive view.
Organising Your Drive With Starred Files Instead
Once you disable the algorithmically generated suggestions, your Google Drive will immediately look cleaner, with your folders appearing right at the top. If you still want rapid access to specific files without relying on Google’s algorithm, you can manually manage your own quick-access list by right-clicking any important file and selecting Organize > Add to Starred. These files will then be securely stored in your “Starred” tab on the left sidebar, giving you complete control over which files are easily accessible.