View and reorder your files and folders

You can change layouts and sort your files and folders to find them easily.

On My Drive, there are four ways that you can sort a list of your files:

Tip: If you're on the 'Home' or 'Recent' pages, you can't sort your files.

Learn how to find files in Google Drive.

Change between list and grid layout

There are two ways to view files and folders in Google Drive: list and grid layout. By default, Drive shows the list layout.

  • To change to the grid layout, go to your toolbar and click the grid layout icon .
  • To change back to the list layout, go to your toolbar and click the list layout icon Menu.

Reorder files and folders

If you're viewing your files in a list

  1. On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
  2. In the side panel, click My Drive.
  3. Click the column that you want to use to sort.
  4. To reverse the order, click the up arrow Up arrow or down arrow down arrow.

If you're viewing your files in a grid

  1. On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
  2. In the side panel, click My Drive.
  3. At the top right, click the title of the current sort, like 'Name' or 'Modified'.
  4. Click on the type of sorting that you want.
  5. To reverse the order, click the up arrow Up arrow or down arrow down arrow.

Find recently edited files

See the files that were most recently edited.

  1. On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
  2. At the top right, click Information Info.
  3. Click 'Activity'.

Change how you sort your files and folders

In 'My Drive', 'Shared with me' and 'Starred' views, you can choose to show files and folders together or show folders on top with files below.

  1. On your computer, go to Drive.
  2. On the far right, immediately above your list of files, click Menu More.
  3. Select an option. To show:
    • Folders on top, click On top.
    • Files and folders intermingled, click Mixed with files.

Tip: Your preferences for sorting files and folders will be saved; you can update your sorting options by making a new selection following the steps above.

Turn off file preview card

File preview cards appear when hovering on a file icon in Drive. These thumbnails can help you save time and gain context on your files before you open them.

File preview cards contain file info and updates, such as who last edited the file.

To turn off the feature:

  1. On your computer, go to Google Drive.
  2. Click Settings Settings and then Settings.
  3. On the side menu, select General.
  4. Scroll to 'File preview card'.
  5. Untick the box next to 'Show details card when hovering on a file icon'.

 

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