Google platforms and services have always been known for their seamless connectivity and third-party support base. The same goes with Drive and Chrome as well. Today, we will see some fantastic Google Chrome extensions that significantly enhance the Google Drive user experience within minutes. They will turn your online cloud storage into a heart of integrated features that can sometimes prove to be quite handy and helpful.
Top 10 Chrome extensions for Google Drive
1. Save to Google Drive
The Save to Google Drive Chrome extension allows you to save web content or screen capture directly to Google Drive. It helps save screenshots and upload them to the cloud without needing to download them first. When you install it on your browser, a Chrome action is added for saving the current page. This action gets displayed in the menu, which pops up whenever you right-click on a web element.
You may also use it to save hyperlinks and other media formats. Moreover, the options for an end user can be adjusted from a specialized page within the extension menu. It can also save a PDF version of any currently opened tab in the browser. Save to Google Drive not only saves time but also helps in conserving local storage on the device. Besides images and plain text, it works perfectly well with dynamic web pages, links, and URLs.
2. Checker Plus for Google Drive
Checker Plus is another featured Chrome extension developed separately for Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Drive. Checker Plus for Google Drive lets users quickly browse any file on their cloud without opening it in a new tab. It even delivers push notifications whenever a shared document is modified by someone else. After installing this extension, you can browse, open, search, or delete any document from a browser button.
It links directly with your Google Drive account and shares new updates using a picture-in-picture window. Like the Drive, there are individual tabs for My Drive, Shared with Me, Recent, and Starred sections. Please note that Checker Plus is relatively new on the Workspace Marketplace. However, its developers are pretty responsive on Chrome Web Store and their websites. You can contact them for issues and feature requests in the next update.
3. Office Editing for Docs, Sheets, & Slides
Many people do not have MS Office installed on their desktops. Sometimes, editing or viewing an MS Office file can be somewhat troubling. The Office Editing Chrome extension allows you to open any such document directly on your browser. All you need is to upload it to Google Drive beforehand. The extension would perform the conversion automatically and then open it in the corresponding platform in a separate window.
Once the extension is installed, Office files that you drag into Chrome or Drive are opened in Docs, Sheets, and Slides. What’s great is it also provides the option to save each file in original Office format. Presently, there is support for a range of file types including .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .ppt, and .pptx. If you are on a Chromebook, please note that this extension is already installed by default.
4. Grammarly
Grammarly is another great Chrome extension to be used together with files and documents present on Google Drive. You can use it to improve text-based documents. The features include communication assistance, spell check, grammar check, punctuation check, and more. Moreover, when you have opened some files from Google Drive, this extension would be able to offer real-time suggestions as you go on to edit or format them in a specific way. Unlike basic spell checkers, it is a complete writing assistant for anyone who needs regular help.
With comprehensive feedback on spelling, grammar, punctuation, clarity, and writing style, Grammarly is more than just a proofreader. It is a tool that helps you create and edit documents with confidence. It enables you to find the best words to express yourself and easily communicate intrinsic ideas. The premium version of the Grammarly Chrome extension takes it up a notch. It provides clarity-focused sentence rewrites, tone adjustments, vocabulary improvements, fluency suggestions, and more.
5. OmniDrive
The OmniDrive Chrome extension is developed to improve the already comprehensive compatibility features of Google Drive. As its name suggests, OmniDrive is used to bring together all data on your Drive in a single tab. It allows you to search for files or documents through the default Google Chrome search bar. Here, one can explore titles, content, and tags.
Once installed, you need to open a new tab, and the OmniDrive extension will be enabled independently. Then, go to the search bar, type “drive,” and look up any item on Google Drive. Pressing enter would redirect you to that item or Google Drive search results. OmniDrive has made the Google Drive search far more accessible than usual. After getting to use it for some days, people frequently employ this new file search method.
6. DocHub
Are you someone who needs to sign documents regularly? If that is so, DocHub is exactly what you are looking for. It is an all-inclusive extension-based application developed for signing PDF and Word files. It is so powerful that DocHub can be accessed anywhere in your browser. No matter what tab or program is opened, you can still open, edit, and sign documents on the go. The extension gives increased control when someone needs to send a verified file from Google Drive or Gmail.
Additionally, any PDF viewed from a web URL can be instantly imported to DocHub with a single click. The editor tools include inserting text, drawing, highlighting, commenting, erasing, signing, inserting media, stamping, and so much more. DocHub also contains comprehensive option menus for merging documents, reordering pages, or appending new ones to an existing file. Many document templates with guaranteed compatibility for both Google Drive and MS Office.
7. Google Translate
You might have already used Google Translate so many times. But did you know there was a separate Chrome extension for it? As it turns out, Google Translate is a featured add-on for all versions of Google Chrome. This helps to view translations as you browse a file saved on Google Drive. When you highlight or right-click on a section of the text, the Google Translate extension will render it in your set language by default.
Other than just interpreting a specified section, you may use it to translate entire documents. Since the underlying code gets embedded into the browser, it works on any text snippet displayed inside the browser window. Therefore, even if your file is not in a typical format, the Google Translate Chrome extension would still render it as usual.
8. Save Emails to Google Drive
Everyone receives important emails all the time. Even though Gmail has a starred tab for marking emails, some are required to be saved outside Gmail. With the Save Emails to Google Drive Chrome extension, you can export any mail in your inbox to Google Drive. Besides, this seemingly complex feature gets implemented with just one click on your end. Furthermore, the extension supports multiple export formats, such as PDF, HTML, and TXT.
It is a perfect solution for those who want to maintain an external record for a stream of emails from some client or colleague. You can direct the extension to organize each email in a separate folder inside Google Drive. There are no complicated downloads, and all services are free to use. One also gets to automate the process by marking labels on certain emails. Any new message containing that tag is exported to Google Drive on its own.
9. Transfer Dropbox
Cloud storage is here to stay for ages to come. Over the last decade, we have seen a sharp rise in cloud storage services. Apart from Google Drive, several other platforms offer their services to the same target audience. Some are efficient in quick access, while others provide improved database security. One platform that has been in a race with Drive for a long time is Dropbox. But what if you want to move the entire storage from Dropbox to Google Drive?
This is what this extension is here for. It is developed by MultCloud, a cloud syncing application. It is a free web-based tool that enables you to transfer quickly, migrate, back up, sync, or move files from one account to another. Even if you do not use Dropbox, this extension may be employed for moving data between two Google Drive accounts or syncing OneDrive with Google Drive. The file transfer process carries on in the back, allowing you to close current browser sessions with no interrupts.
10. Notes for Google Drive
The Notes for Google Drive Chrome extension helps create notes automatically synced as documents to Google Drive. It saves you from emailing notes, links, and ideas to yourself. Any item created through this extension is uploaded to Drive as soon as you start typing. There are quick access buttons for opening and editing a particular note in Google Drive.
You will be glad to know that it does not require you to be signed in to Chrome. It is perfect for when you want to access your notes on work and public networks. The management aspect is quite effectively handled as well. Each note can be reordered by dragging and dropping it in a preferred location.
Conclusion
Google Drive has been meeting user expectations regarding remarkable storage features and tools. However, with a robust set of online extensions, everyone looks out for further advances. The Chrome extensions listed in this article are promised to transform the entire Google Drive experience pleasingly. They carry out multifaceted tasks and enable you to make the most of Google compatibility suites.