Navigate in Google Drive with a screen reader

Use these areas of the Drive web interface to navigate with your screen reader.

Navigation panel: Open a Google Drive view or one of your folders. The Google Drive views are My Drive, Shared with me, Google Photos, Recent, Starred, and Trash. 

• To go to the navigation panel, press g then n.
• To move through the navigation panel, press the down or up arrows.
• To open a sub-folder, press the right arrow.
• To select a folder or view, press Enter

Main content area: Browse through your files and folders, either in a list or a grid format. By default, Drive shows the list layout.

• To go to the main area, press g then l.
• To navigate through the list or grid, use the arrow keys.
• To open an item, press o or Enter.
• To change between grid and list view, press v.

Details: Find information about a file or folder, such as the owner, the size, and when it was last modified.

• To go to the details pane, press g then d.
• There are two tabs in the details pane: Details and Activity.
• To review the Details or Activity tab, turn on the virtual cursor or browse mode.

Google bar: The Google bar is at the very top of the interface, above the Google Drive buttons and menus. This area contains the Apps pop-up menu, with links to other Google Apps, the Google notifications button, and other options.

Keyboard shortcuts

To move quickly through Drive, you can use Drive keyboard shortcuts.

To open a list of shortcuts in Drive, press Ctrl + / (forward slash) on Windows or Chrome OS, or ⌘ + / (forward slash) on a Mac.

Search for files

To search in Drive:

1. To go to the Search box, press / (forward slash).
2. Type your search terms, then press Enter. The focus moves to the list of files and folders that match your search terms.
3. To browse the search results, use the arrow keys.

To do an advanced search:

1. To go to the Search box, press / (forward slash).
2. To move to the Search options menu, press Tab, then press Enter.
3. Use the menus and text fields in the search options dialog to refine your search.
4. Navigate to the Search button, then press Enter. The focus moves to the list of files and folders that match your search terms.
5. To browse the search results, use the arrow keys.

For more information and tips on using the Search box in Drive, see Search for your files. To restore or find a deleted file, learn how to find or recover a file.

Sort files

To sort your files:

1. Press r to open to the Sort menu.
2. To move through the menu, use the down or up arrow. Listen for "checked" or "not checked" as you navigate through the sorting options, such as "Name" and "Modified."
3. To select a sorting option, press Enter. Your focus returns to the files and folders list.

Help and feedback

To read help documentation or send feedback:

1. Press t to open the Google Drive Settings menu.
2. Navigate through the menu to Help.
3. Search for help articles or use Send feedback to send your feedback to Google.