Use Gemini in Drive for research & analysis

In this article, you’ll learn how to:

• Ask Gemini in Drive
• Open Ask Gemini and resume conversations
• Manage sources and search settings
• Save and navigate Projects
• Share a project and manage permissions

Ask Gemini in Drive

You can organize related files like financial reports or pitch decks and ask Gemini questions to connect the dots. You can:

• Analyze insights across multiple folders, shared drives, Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, PDFs, and other Workspace apps like Gmail, Google Chat, and Google Calendar.
• Ask Gemini to identify patterns, compare different file versions, or verify compliance against internal policies.
• Verify answers with direct citations to your original documents.
• Group related files and folders into a saved Project, creating a focused knowledge base for Gemini to reference.
• Create new Google documents and images.
• Share your project with others so everyone can leverage the same foundational documents.

Examples of how to use Ask Gemini

You can use ‘Ask Gemini’ in Drive to organize related files, like financial reports, meeting notes, or pitch decks, and ask Gemini questions to connect the dots.

• Prep for client meetings: Add your pitch deck and historical contracts to ask: "Summarize the key requirements from the client notes."
• Track insights across teams: Group operational reports and meeting notes to ask: "Identify the top 3 risks mentioned across the operational updates," or "Compare the budget forecast against the actual spend reports."
• Manage project status: Centralize active drafts and trackers to ask: "List the open action items from the meeting notes."

Open Ask Gemini and resume conversations

Open Ask Gemini from a specific file or folder

1. Go to drive.google.com.
2. Select a file or folder you want to analyze.
3. In the toolbar at the top, click Ask Gemini . The tool will open in a full-screen workspace with your selected files listed as your sources.

Start from scratch:

1. Go to drive.google.com.
2. At the top right, click Ask Gemini. This opens the full-screen workspace.

Tip: When you start a chat from scratch, search settings for other Workspace apps (Drive, Gmail, Chat, and Calendar) are turned on by default. Gemini will use this wider context to answer questions. Web search remains off by default.

Resume and refine your research

Gemini automatically saves your conversation history so you can pick up your work later without losing context.

1. Go to drive.google.com.
2. At the top right, click Ask Gemini .
3. At the top left, click More options . Your conversation history will appear in the chat window.
4. Continue the chat where you left off.

Manage sources and search settings

Ask Gemini in Drive can use a specific list of files and folders to ground its answers.

Manage your active sources:

• To add files and folders: In the left panel, under "Your sources" or "Project sources," click Add.
• To remove files: Hover over a file in the list and click Remove . This deletes the file from the analysis but keeps it safe in your Drive.
• To temporarily exclude a file: Uncheck the box next to the filename. You can ask questions without Gemini referencing it, without fully removing it from the list.

Use suggested sources

Gemini may suggest additional files based on your current sources or project name.

Important: Suggested files are not used by Ask Gemini until you explicitly add them. Your analysis stays focused only on the data you approve.

• To view suggestions, click Suggested in the left panel to expand the section.

To add a suggestion, click Add next to the file to move it into your active sources.

Broaden your search

You can allow Ask Gemini to search for context beyond your selected file list.

1. In the left panel, click Search settings.
2. Turn on Drive, Gmail, Chat, Calendar, or Web.
   1. Select Drive to search your wider Drive content.
   2. Select Gmail, Chat, or Calendar to search communications and schedules.
   3. Select Web to use Google Search for public information.

Learn more about search settings.

Verify answers with citations

When Gemini answers a question based on your sources, it provides citations so you can review where the information came from.

• Hover over the small number (for example, [1]) at the end of a sentence to see which file provided the information.
• Click the file chip in the citation to open the original document in a new tab.

Save and navigate Projects

While a standard conversation history saves your continuous chat, creating a project locks in a specific set of source files. This allows you to have multiple unique conversations using the exact same foundation of documents, and makes it possible to share the project with your team.

Save your current chat as a project

1. In your full-screen Ask Gemini view, click Save as a project at the top right.
2. Enter a name for your project. (Gemini will automatically suggest a name based on your sources, which you can click to edit).
3. Click Create.

Tip: Creating a project does not move or change the location or permissions of your original Drive files.

Create a project from the New menu

1. On your computer, go to drive.google.com or project.new.
2. At the top left, click New Projects.
3. Enter a name for your project (e.g., "Q3 Financial Analysis").
4. Select files from Gemini’s recommendations, or manually choose your own files.
5. Click Create.

Navigate the project workspace

1. Project Name: The title of your project.
2. Project sources: The active files Gemini references. Check or uncheck boxes to quickly include or exclude files from your current prompt.
3. Suggested sources: Files Gemini recommends adding. Click Add to include them.
4. Search settings: Expand to toggle wider search permissions across Drive, Gmail, Chat, Calendar, or Web.
5. Tools: Select helpful add-ons, like image creation with Nano Banana.
6. Ask Gemini: The text field where you type prompts and instructions.
7. Gemini response: The generated answers. You can check citations here.
8. Conversation history: Scroll up to see previous Q&As from this session.
9. Share: Invite collaborators to work from the same knowledge base.

Share a project and manage permissions

You can share a project with your team to work together, streamline onboarding, or collaborate on unified research.

How sharing permissions work

• Your chat history is private: When you share a project, you only share the core list of source files. Collaborators will start their own blank conversations with Gemini.
• Share your findings manually: If you want to share specific Gemini outputs, copy the text or export it to a Google Doc before sharing with your team.
• Source file access matters: Collaborators will only be able to interact with source content that they have permission to view. If they don't already have access to the source files in Drive, you will be prompted to share those individual files with them.

Collaborator Roles

• Editor: Can chat with Gemini, add or remove source files from the master list, and share the project with others.
• Viewer: Can chat with Gemini and temporarily turn existing sources on or off for their own analysis. They cannot add or remove files from the project list.
• Set an expiration: To automatically end a user's access on a specific date, select Add expiration in the sharing menu.

Related resources

• Create content, images & audio overviews with Gemini in Drive
• Use Gems with Gemini in Google Drive