Do you want to move multiple files in Google Drive but don’t know how to? If yes, you have landed on the right webpage. In today’s article, I am going to share a few different methods that you can follow to move multiple files in Google Drive.
So, without any further ado, let’s get started –
How to Select Multiple Files in Google Drive
If you are a Google Drive user and have stored a lot of data on your drive, managing files can be a serious problem sometimes. However, if you can spend some time organizing your Google Drive files, you can save a lot of time and become more productive.
Even though you can move files one by one to arrange your Google Drive folders, it can be very time-consuming. The good thing is that Google Drive allows you to move multiple files altogether, making this organizing process quite simple and fast.
However, before moving multiple files in Google Drive, you need to learn how to select multiple files in Google Drive. If you already know this, you can skip this section.
However, if you don’t, you can follow any of these below-mentioned methods to select multiple files in Google Drive.
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1. Using Mouse
This is the easiest method to select multiple files in Google Drive. All you need to do is follow these simple steps –
- Go to drive.google.com.
- Navigate to the folder where you have all your files stored.
- Now, left-click on your mouse and drag the cursor from top to down to select the files you want to move.
That’s it. You have selected multiple files, and now you can perform actions such as copying, moving, deleting, etc.
However, the biggest drawback of this technique is that it is not efficient to select the files that are distributed randomly. It is great if you want to select files that are already organized in a sequence.
2. Using CTRL Key and Mouse
Since the technique mentioned above is not good for files that aren’t arranged in a particular sequence, you can follow this method in such a situation. This method is perfect for selecting multiple files that are scattered in between other files.
All you have to do is follow these simple steps –
- Go to drive.google.com.
- Navigate to the folder where all the files you want to select are stored.
- Now, press and hold the CTRL key on your keyboard and start left clicking on the files you want to select.
That’s it. This is how you can select the files that are not arranged in a particular sequence. The only drawback of this technique is that it takes quite a lot of time.
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3. Using the keyboard to select all files at once
If you want to select all the files that are available in a Google Drive folder, you can follow this method.
Here is how you can do this –
- Go to drive.google.com.
- Navigate to the folder where you have the files stored that you want to select.
- Click on any file.
- Press CTRL + A altogether to select all files.
That’s it. You have selected all the files located in that specific folder.
Since you have learned how to select multiple files in Google Drive, let me share a few methods that you can follow to move all these multiple selected files in Google Drive.
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How to Move Multiple Files in Google Drive Using the Move To function
The easiest way to move multiple files in Google Drive is using the Move To function. Google Drive has this in-built function that lets you move multiple files from one location to a different location in your Google Drive.
For this, all you have to do is follow these simple steps –
- First of all, go to drive.google.com.
- Log in using your Google account credentials if it asks.
- Now, go to the folder where you have the files that you want to move.
- Select multiple files using any method that we shared above.
- Now, right-click on any of the selected files and click on the Move To option.
- A small in-screen pop-up will appear where you will see all the folders of your Google Drive storage. You can either select a folder from the list or create one using the “+ folder” icon.
- Once you select the folder, the Move Here button will become visible. Click on it.
That’s it. This is how you can very easily move multiple files in Google Drive using the Move To function. This is one of the best and easiest techniques to get the work done, but there are other ways as well. We have shared a few other techniques to move multiple files in Google Drive below.
1. Using the Drag and Drop feature
This is a great technique to move multiple files in Google Drive as it is quite fast and makes you look like a tech genius. This technique is quite similar to what you do on your File Explorer to move files.
Here is how you can move multiple files using the drag and drop feature –
- Go to drive.google.com.
- Log in using your Google account credentials.
- Open the folder where you have all your files located.
- Select the files that you want to move.
- Now, left-click and hold on to any selected files and drag your cursor over the folder where you want to move these selected files. You can see all your Google Drive folders from the left sidebar.
- Release the left click button. A pop-up might appear for confirmation. You have to accept it.
That’s it. You have successfully managed to move multiple files in Google Drive using the drag and drop feature. You can also hover over the breadcrumbs to select the folder where you want to move all your files.
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2. By Creating shortcuts
The aforementioned methods are a great way to move files from one folder to another. However, this means that the files will disappear from their original location, which will not be a big thing for many but can be a problem for some people.
The easiest way to fix that is by making a copy of the files, but that can consume quite a lot of Google Drive storage.
In such situations, creating shortcuts to those files can be a good idea. The good thing is that it is quite easy to make shortcuts to multiple files in Google Drive.
All you need to do is follow these simple steps –
- Go to drive.google.com.
- Navigate to the folder where all your files are stored and select the files.
- Press Shift + Z on your keyboard.
- An in-screen pop-up will appear. Select the folder where you want to store shortcuts to those files.
- Click on the Add Shortcut button.
That’s it. You have successfully created shortcuts for all those files.
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- How to move files from DropBox to Google Drive
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Closing Comments
There you have it – a detailed article on how to move multiple files in Google Drive.
Moving files in Google Drive can be the perfect way to organize your data and declutter your cloud storage. The good thing is Google Drive’s in-built functionality lets you do this very easily. All you need to do is follow the methods mentioned above in this article.
Hello, my name is Shirley. I’m a Google Drive expert and have been working with the platform since it launched. I’ve written extensively about Google Drive tips and tricks, and have created numerous tutorials on how to get the most out of the platform. I also enjoy creating tutorials to help people learn how to use Drive like pros. Read more