Important:If clicking Ask Geminiopens a full-screen workspace, these steps do not apply. You can use Ask Gemini in Drive for research & analysis.
Instead of a traditional search and manual review of the results in Drive, ask Gemini to find specific info or files. Because Gemini understands natural language, you can search with everyday phrases instead of exact file names or keywords.
To understand how Google uses your data and what to expect from Gemini suggestions, learn more about disclaimers and data usage .
Retrieve files based on content
To find files based on their content, you can use Gemini to help you locate files easily when you don't recall the title.
- On your computer, go to drive.google.com .
- At the top right, click Ask Gemini
.
- In the side panel, enter a prompt like:
- “Show me all presentations about the Q4 marketing campaign”
- "In the @Project Phoenix folder, list all the budgeting spreadsheets”
Get answers directly in search
Feature availability:This is available for
- Gemini Alpha, which is available for work and school accounts only. Your administrator controls access to Gemini Alpha work and school accounts. If you can't find this feature, your administrator may not have Alpha features enabled for your organization .
- Google AI Ultra and Google AI Pro personal accounts.
- Google Workspace Experiments, which is a trusted tester program for personal accounts to try new AI features. Learn more about Workspace Experiments.
This feature is currently available on desktop and in English only.
You can enter natural language questions into the main Drive search bar to get a quick summary of the information you need.
- On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
- In the search bar at the top, enter a question like:
- "What is the Q3 marketing budget?"
- "Summarize the ABC project timeline for this year"
- An overview appears at the top of your search results summarizing the answer.
- To verify the information, click the inline citations to view the source files.
Tip:You can provide feedback on the overview by clicking thumbs up or thumbs down.
After getting an AI overview from your search results, you can move directly into the Ask Gemini full-screen workspace to ask follow-up questions, compare the findings, or turn your research into a saved project.
- From your search overview, click Ask Gemini.
- Your conversation will transition into the full-screen workspace, bringing your current search context and source files with you.
Learn more about how to use Gemini in Drive for research & analysis.
