Phase 2: Choose a Cloud Storage Location

Upload files & folders

On your computer, you can upload from files and folders from your computer desktop or Network Drive.

1. Open a browser window and go to drive.google.com. Login with your UtahID.

2. At the top left, click New > File Upload or Folder Upload.

3. Choose the file or folder you want to upload from your desktop or Network Drive.

Drag files & folders into Google Drive

1. Open a browser window and go to drive.google.com. Login with your UtahID.

2. Locate the file(s) or folder(s) you want to move to Google on your computer (desktop or Network Drive).

3. To upload files and folders, click, hold, and drag them into the Google Drive area in your browser window.

Moving files and folders in bulk

1. Open a browser window and go to drive.google.com. Login with your UtahID.

2. Locate the file(s) or folder(s) you want to move to Google on your computer (desktop or Network Drive).

3. There are two ways to select more than one file at the same time:

   • Press and hold the CTRL key (or Command, on a Mac) as you click individual multiple files.

   • To select a long list of files in order, click the first file in the list, press and hold SHIFT, then click the last file in the list.

4. Drag and drop to Google Drive, or click Upload or Open, if prompted.

Additional Links:

Google Drive: Uploading Files (0:00 - 0:40)

Upload files and folders to Google Drive

Switching from your C:\ drive to Google Drive

Folders are the primary tool in Google Drive for organizing files. We recommend first developing an organizational structure for your Google Drive. This will help you determine where your files will go when you upload them.

If you would like help thinking through this or leading a session with your team to decide an organizational structure for your Shared Drive, contact the UDOT Google Support team.

Create a folder in Google Drive (from Google Drive Help)

1. Open a browser window and go to drive.google.com. Login with your UtahID.

2. On the left, click New > Folder.

3. Enter a name for the folder.

4. Click Create.

Move a file within Google Drive (from Google Drive Help)

You can move an item from anywhere in Google Drive: the main window, the left panel, or search results. Note: If you move folders with a lot of files or subfolders, it might take some time for you to see the changes.

1. Open a browser window and go to drive.google.com. Login with your UtahID.

2. Right-click the item you want to move.

3. Click Move to…

4. Choose or create a folder, then click Move.

For information on moving files and folders from My Drive to a Shared Drive see the section "Move a folder from My Drive to a Shared Drive" in Phase 3: Decide who needs access

Drag an item to a folder

1. Open a browser window and go to drive.google.com. Login with your UtahID.

2. Click and hold the item you want to move.

3. Move the item over the folder and release it.

Additional Links:

Google Drive: Managing Files (video): Advice for searching within your Drive (00:00 - 1:37), creating and populating folders (1:38 - 2:45) and deleting unneeded files (2:45 - 3:14).

Organize your files in Google Drive Learn to create a folder and move folders within Google Drive.

Archiving team documents not only saves space, it is an important strategy to ensure that you are able to locate and access old documents when needed.

There is no built-in "archive" section in Google Drive. The simplest way to create an archive in your My Drive (for personal documents to archive) or a Shared Drive (for team documents to archive) is to first, create a folder or series of folders marked Archive, and then populate those folder with compressed (zipped) files and folders. Starting an archive starts with a team discussion. If you would like help thinking through this or leading a session with your team to decide an organizational structure for your Shared Drive, contact the UDOT Google Support team.

Determining an Archive Scheme

You and your team will need to determine together how, when, what, and who will drive your archiving decisions. We encourage teams to create a short one-pager document with your decisions about archiving; this will help remind members of the team what was decided, can help new team members learn the expectations, and provide a reference for everyone. Below are a few non-exhaustive questions and considerations to address together as a team to start the process of creating a team archive:

What & Why: Work with your team to develop a set of criteria for sorting old documents for purging and archiving. Because different documents have different long-term value, the criteria may differ from type to type.

How: Determine an organizational scheme for your archive and review how to compress files and folders. There is more information below on these aspects of archive development,

When: Establish and communicate the expectations for each person's role in archiving and when archiving should be done. Develop a plan to revisit your team archive processes and procedures annually.

Where: This one is easy. For non-capital project related documents, your team archive should be in your team's Shared Drive.

‼ Remember‼ If the documents are related to capital projects, they should be housed and archived in ProjectWise, not Google Drive. If you have questions about ProjectWise, please contact Gary Williams garywilliams@utah.gov.

Who: While all team members should have access and responsibility for archiving, it is recommended that each team have a "point-person" who keeps an eye on the archive from time to time to reorganize, purge, or update as your team has decided you all should. Your team may also have point-people for certain types of documents, e.g., one person for videos and media, and another for written documents. The responsibilities and expectations for this person should be communicated and documented for the team.

Additional Link: A Guide to Document Archiving

Archive Organization

Below are some suggested organizational schemes for archiving your documents. As a start, we suggest creating one main "Archive" folder, and then organizing sub-folders of more specific archives therein. Chance are most teams will need a combination of organizational archiving schemes. Because each team at UDOT is involved in a diversity of work, teams would need several "archive" folders for different purposes and materials.

Archive by year: For some, it may make sense to create one archive folder for every past year. Be sure to include the year and the word archive in each folder name, e.g., Archive - 2015.

Archive by document type: For some, it may make sense to create archives based on the type of file (e.g., Archive - PowerPoints and Slides).

Archive by document purpose or use: For some, it may make sense to archive by the purpose or use of the documents. For example, if you are archiving old public outreach materials or team meeting minutes, you might create two archive folders called "Archive - Outreach Materials" and "Archive - Team Meeting Minutes".

Create and Populate the Archive

Here are instructions on the three basic functions of a Google Drive archive: folder creation, file compression, and uploading to Drive.

Create a folder in Google Drive (from Google Drive Help)

1. Open a browser window and go to drive.google.com. Login with your UtahID.

2. On the left, click New > Folder.

3. Enter a name for the folder.

4. Click Create.

Compressing (zipping) files and folders

Before moving files to an archive in the cloud, you will want to compress (zip) the files and folders to reduce storage space. Below are links to step-by-step instructions for how to compress (zip) files and folders on a PC (Windows) or a Mac.

Do not password protect your zipped files. This makes it difficult for other team members to open and access the file from the Shared Drive. Because the Shared Drive access is already securely limited to only those on your team, password protection on a zip file is unneeded.

Zip and unzip files (Windows) Zip and unzip files and folders on Mac (MacOS)

Upload files & folders

On your computer, you can upload from files and folders from your computer desktop or Network Drive.

1. Open a browser window and go to drive.google.com. Login with your UtahID.

2. At the top left, click New > File Upload or Folder Upload.

3. Choose the file or folder you want to upload from your desktop or Network Drive.

Each user is allowed uploads of 750 GB per day in the Google Drive Workspace. That said, large files take time to upload; expect a 2GB file to take about an hour (or more, depending on your internet speed). Here are some recommendations for uploading large files. Here are some recommendations for uploading large files.

Go to the office: Often the internet speeds at the Complex and Region offices are more stable and much faster than what you get at home. If you have large files, or a large number or files, to upload, we recommend finding the time to go to do so at a UDOT office.

Compress (zip) the file: If it is a file type that you can't edit in Google Drive (i.e., MP4, LAS, DWG, DXF) and will have to download to edit, consider compressing (zipping) the file to reduce size. You can them download the file, extract (unzip) to edit, re-compress (zip), and re-upload, when needed. Instructions for how to compress a file are found in the Archived Files section here.

Unpack large folders: If you want to move a large folder with many files in it, consider instead creating an empty folder in Google Drive and moving the files over in batches.

Do it at the end of the day: Start your large uploads at the end of the day when you are finishing work, when you don't need to use your computer for other things and let the uploads run into the evening. Close all other programs and windows to minimize interference with your connection.

Especially if you are moving large files or a lot of files, you will inevitably run into an issue from time to time (death, taxes, and tech issues, right?). Here are some tips for troubleshooting uploads to Google Drive.

Use a private or incognito window: These don't store cookies that may affect uploads. You will need to login into your Google Drive account again before starting your upload.

Clear your browser cache and cookies: Sometimes these interfere with uploads. Each browser stores these differently. See the Additional Links below for information on clearing these in different browsers.

Try a different browser: Sometimes the upload issue is temporary and isolated to one browser. Your UDOT computer has Chrome, Edge, and Firefox available to use.

Go to the office: Unstable internet is often a culprit of failed uploads. The internet speeds at the Complex and Region offices are more stable and much faster than what you get at home.

If you keep facing problems with uploading your files, don't suffer through it - the UDOT Google Support team for assistance.

Additional Links:

Clear your cache and cookies: in Chrome | in Firefox | in Edge | in Safari

One of the best ways to streamline your workflow and maintain on- or off-line access to your Google Drive content is by syncing your Google Drive to your File Explorer. This allows you to access and work with native file types, like Microsoft Excel or PDFs for example, directly from your desktop without the need to download and upload. The changes you make will sync with your Google Drive when you are connected to the internet.

Here are step-by-step are instructions on how to install Google File Stream to your computer.