How to Sort Files in Google Drive by Size, Type, Name, and Date

You can’t sort a regular Google Drive folder by size, but you can sort your whole Drive by size on the Storage page, where your largest files show up first. Inside folders, Drive sorts by name or date, and you filter by file type instead of sorting by it.

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to sort files in Google Drive by name, date, size, and type, how to keep folders on top, and how sorting works in the Drive app on your phone.

How sorting works in Google Drive

I tested all of this in the demo Drive for Bluebird Landscaping Co., a made-up landscaping company in Austin. It’s a personal Gmail account on a 5 TB plan.

In list view, click the Sort button at the right end of the column header row. Its tooltip says View sort options.

You get four choices under Sort by: Name, Date modified, Date modified by me, and Date opened by me. Below them, Sort direction lets you switch between A to Z and Z to A.

Or click a column header such as Date modified, and the list re-sorts. Click the arrow next to it to reverse the order.

In my folder, Invoices Q2 2026 – draft.csv jumped to the top because I’d edited it last. Drive saves your choice until you pick something else. If you can’t spot the folder itself, here’s how to find folders in Google Drive.

In grid view, click the title of the current sort, like Name, above the files and pick a new one.

Every sort option at a glance

Here’s where each option lives, including the two that people search for most: size and file type.

Sort option	What it does	Where it’s available
Name	Alphabetical, A to Z or Z to A	Sort menu, Name header, mobile app
Date modified	Newest or oldest edit by anyone	Sort menu, column header
Date modified by me	Files you edited most recently	Sort menu
Date opened by me	Files you opened most recently	Sort menu
Storage used (size)	Largest first, click to flip	Storage page only, files you own
File type	Not a sort: shows one type at a time	Type filter chip or type: in search
Folders on top or mixed	Where folders sit in the list	My Drive, Shared with me, Starred

Find your largest files on the Storage page

This is how you sort Google Drive by size. Click Storage in the left menu. Google says your files list from largest to smallest automatically.

My demo account shows 7.51 GB of 5 TB used, and the biggest file is a 252.3 MB audio recording.

Click the Storage used header to flip the list so the smallest files come first. This page covers your whole Drive, not one folder. To check a single folder, see how to see folder size in Google Drive.

Only files you own count here, and items in Trash count until you clear them. If the numbers still look off, read why Google Drive storage can be full with no files.

Group files by type with the Type filter

Drive has no file type sort, so I filter instead. Above the list, click the Type chip and choose a type.

My list showed Folders, Documents, Spreadsheets, Presentations, Pics, Vids, and Markdown, with more as you scroll. You can also type an operator like type:spreadsheet in the search box.

Search results sort by relevance by default, but you can still click a column header to re-sort them. This pairs well with tips to reduce file size in Google Drive once you’ve found your bulky videos or PDFs.

Keep folders on top or mix them with files

Scroll down in the same Sort menu to the Folders section. Pick On top to list folders first, or Mixed with files to sort them together.

This setting works in My Drive, Shared with me, and Starred. I keep folders on top because my subfolders in Google Drive are easier to reach that way.

Sorting in the Drive app on Android and iPhone

The steps are nearly the same on Android, iPhone, and iPad.

1. Open the Google Drive app.
2. At the bottom right, tap Files.
3. At the top, under My Drive, tap your current sort method, such as Name.
4. Choose the sort option you want.
5. To reverse the order, tap the arrow next to the sort method at the top right.

What sorting can’t do

• No size sort inside folders. The Sort menu has no size option, and the File size column header in a folder isn’t clickable. Use the Storage page.
• No custom order. Drive’s help only describes changing the order through sort options and the Folders setting. To control the order, sort by Name and start file names with 01, 02, 03.
• Home and Recent can’t be sorted. Google says sorting isn’t available on those pages.

Since Recent can’t be sorted, I use the Activity panel. In My Drive, click the Information icon at the top right, then Activity. My guide to recent activity on Google Drive covers it in more detail.

Want to tidy up your Drive even more? Try these next

• List files in a folder and subfolder
• Upload large files to Google Drive
• Hide a folder in Google Drive
• Remove suggested files in Google Drive

Common questions