Google is adding a new Gemini feature to the Drive web app where you can summarize entire folders. According to the Google Workspace Updates blog, this will allow you to get a quick look at what’s in a folder without opening individual files. However, the feature is only available to Google Workspace customers with select add-ons.
Yesterday, Google announced Gemini 2.0, the next version of its AI tool. However, Google has not said when it will fully add Gemini 2.0 to all its services.
Google Drive web now offers a “Summarize this folder” option
Google Drive now has a “Summarize this folder” button next to other filters like “Type” and “Modified”. This uses Gemini to analyze the contents of a folder and give you a quick summary of the files inside. The new feature is currently available in the web version of Drive. It is unknown whether it will come to the mobile app.
You can trigger the feature in a few ways. You can click the “Summarize this folder” button, drag a folder into the Gemini side panel, or right-click a folder and choose “Ask Gemini” from the menu. Google suggests you use prompts like “summarize files in @-folder” to make it easier to navigate and use the feature.
Not all Google Drive users will have access to the feature
This new Gemini feature won’t be available to all Google Drive users. Only Google Workspace customers with Gemini Business, Enterprise, Education, Education Premium, and Google One AI Premium add-ons will be able to use it. Google says that Gemini is limited to answering questions about text documents, PDFs, spreadsheets, and presentation files.
Why does Gemini summarization matter for Drive users?
It’s unclear why Google is making these changes, but it could be doing so to make it faster and easier to navigate large folders for its users. This will save professionals and educators hours of time who work with multiple files in Drive. By summarizing the folder contents, Gemini eliminates the need to open and read each file individually.
Google also introduced Gemini to the Workspace ecosystem with tools to summarize emails, assist with writing in Docs, and analyze data in Sheets.
The rollout for the “Summarize this folder” feature began on December 11, and Google says it will become widely available within 15 days.
