Google Drive updates from December 2024
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Mobile scans are now crisper and clearer with auto enhancements in the Google Drive scanner
Drive’s document scanner will digitize paper documents into higher quality images much faster
Release: Both • Rapid: 2024-12-20 • Scheduled: 2024-12-20 -
Introducing instant video playback after uploads in Google Drive
Google Drive now allows users to watch videos immediately after uploading them to the web version, eliminating the previous wait time for processing while still ensuring the video is fully processed in the background.
Release: Both • Scheduled: 2025-01-02 -
Mobile scans are now crisper and clearer with auto enhancements in the Google Drive scanner
The Google Drive document scanner on Android devices now includes auto enhancement to digitize paper documents into higher quality images more quickly. This feature performs actions such as white balance correction, shadow removal, contrast enrichment, auto sharpening, and light improvement.
Release: Both • Rapid: 2024-12-13 • Scheduled: 2024-12-13 -
you can now focus your Gemini conversations in Drive to a specific Drive folder using the side panel.
you can now focus your Gemini conversations in Drive to a specific Drive folder using the side panel. For example, after indicating a specific folder via an @-mention, you can ask Gemini to find files in the folder or write a summary of the folder’s content.
Release: Both • Rapid: 2024-12-11 • Scheduled: 2024-12-11 -
Gemini in the Google Drive side panel now supports focusing conversations on specific folders.
Users can now focus their Gemini conversations in the Google Drive side panel on a specific folder to find files or summarize content. This can be achieved by @-mentioning a folder, dragging and dropping a folder into the side panel, or using the 'Summarize this folder' and 'Ask Gemini' options from the context menu or selection toolbar. Gemini supports analyzing text documents, PDFs, spreadsheets, and presentations within these folders.
Release: Both • Rapid: 2024-12-11 • Scheduled: 2024-12-11 -
Request electronic signatures on PDF files stored in Google Drive.
Google Drive now supports requesting electronic signatures on PDF files, allowing users to capture signatures and custom fields—such as phone number, job title, and company—directly within the Workspace environment. This expands the existing eSignature capabilities previously available in Google Docs to include PDF files stored in Drive.
Release: Both • Rapid: 2024-12-04 • Scheduled: 2024-12-04 -
2024-12-03Content & Collaboration
beta support for Drive for desktop on Windows 11 devices powered by Snapdragon processors
Compiled natively for ARM64, this release enables users to easily sync and store files online from Windows PCs powered by Snapdragon.
Release: Both • Rapid: 2024-12-03 • Scheduled: 2024-12-03 -
2024-12-03Content & Collaboration
Beta support for Google Drive for desktop on Arm-compatible Windows 11 PCs powered by Snapdragon processors.
Google has introduced a beta version of Drive for desktop natively compiled for ARM64, allowing users on Windows 11 devices powered by Snapdragon processors to sync and store files online. This beta is available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts, though it is recommended for use with non-production data.
Release: Rapid • Rapid: 2024-12-03 -
Policy visualization is now generally available across Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Vids, and Drive.
Google has announced the general availability of policy visualization across Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Vids, and Drive. Users interacting with content protected by data loss prevention (DLP) rules or trust rules will now see a shield icon and a side panel that informs them of specific restricted actions. This update provides transparency to end users regarding which data protection controls are active on a file and why certain actions are disabled.
Release: Both • Rapid: 2024-12-02 • Scheduled: 2025-01-08