When you are organizing dozens of files or rapidly trying to build a new project folder structure, constantly moving your hand back and forth between your keyboard and your mouse to click on menus is incredibly inefficient. Google Drive has a robust, built-in library of keyboard shortcuts that allows you to navigate the interface, select multiple files, and create new documents entirely from your keyboard, dramatically speeding up your workflow.
Basic Navigation Shortcuts
You can move through the entire Google Drive interface without ever touching your mouse or trackpad.
- Navigation: Use your Up and Down arrow keys to move through the list of files in the main view.
- Opening Files: When a file is highlighted, press the Enter key to instantly open it. If it is a folder, pressing Enter will navigate inside the folder.
- Going Back: To exit a folder and go back to the parent directory, press the Backspace key (on Windows) or the Delete key (on macOS).
- Switching Views: Press the v key to instantly toggle between the visual Grid view and the data-heavy List view.
Advanced File Selection
Selecting multiple files for deletion or moving is often frustrating with a mouse. The keyboard makes it flawless.
- Select a Range: Click on the first file you want to select. Then, hold down the Shift key and use the Down Arrow key. Every file you move over will be highlighted. This is perfect for selecting a block of 10 consecutive documents.
- Select Specific Files: If you need to select the 1st, 4th, and 7th file in a list, you must use a modifier key. Hold down the Ctrl key (on Windows) or the Command key (on macOS) while you click on the specific files you want.
- Select All: To instantly highlight every single file and folder currently visible on your screen, press Ctrl + A (Windows) or Command + A (macOS).
- Clear Selection: If you accidentally highlight the wrong files, simply press the Esc (Escape) key to instantly deselect everything.
Creation and Action Shortcuts
Once you have navigated to the correct folder, you can create new files instantly.
- New Folder: Press Shift + f to instantly pop up the “New Folder” dialog box. Type the name and press Enter.
- New Document: Press Shift + t to instantly create and open a brand-new, blank Google Doc.
- New Spreadsheet: Press Shift + s to create a new Google Sheet.
- Rename a File: Highlight any file or folder and press the n key. The rename dialog box will immediately appear, allowing you to type the new name and press Enter to save it.
If you ever forget these commands, you can view the complete, official shortcut cheat sheet at any time by pressing Ctrl + / (Windows) or Command + / (macOS) while inside Google Drive.