What is Google Drive? 

Google Drive is a cloud-based storage solution that allows you to save files online and access them anywhere from any smartphone, tablet, or computer. You can use Drive on your computer or mobile device to securely upload files and edit them online. Drive also makes it easy for others to edit and collaborate on files.

Using a cloud storage service like Google Drive has plenty of advantages, such as; easier file sharing and having a remote location to backup your files. Google Drive's popularity is built on useful collaborative tools and built-in integrations with Google's suite of products and services.  You can use Google Drive to upload and access files on any device, to all the tools that make collaboration with others easy.

How does Google Drive work?

Think of Google Drive as a hard drive in the cloud. 

Google Drive gives you the power to upload and save a range of file types such as documents, photos, audio, and videos to Google servers, or the "cloud." 

Drive can serve as a backup solution, or as a way to free up space on your device. 

Here is a breakdown of the most commonly used Google Drive applications:

Storing files: By default, Google gives you 1TB of free storage space across Google Drive and Google Photos. 

Sharing files: Files are private until you share them. But at any time, you can invite others to view, edit, or download files and documents.

Accessing files from anywhere: Files can be accessed from any smartphone, tablet or computer. Offline access is also available.

Comprehensive search: Drive can recognize images and even text in scanned documents, making searching for files even easier. 

Secure storage: Drive files are protected by an AES256 or AES128 encryption, the same security protocol used on other Google services.

Once you've signed into Google with your school account, you can easily access Google Drive in your browser by going to drive.google.com. This will bring you to Drive's web interface, which is fairly intuitive and easy to navigate.