Theory
Where does it all live?
Priya's team is ready to start, but a question: they will create a report, a sheet, slides, and a form, where do these files actually live, and how do they all find them?
The answer is Google Drive: the team's shared cloud filing cabinet. Every Doc, Sheet, Slide and Form they create is stored in Drive, and created from Drive.
And it all begins with one thing everyone already has or can get free: a Google account. One login unlocks the whole suite. This lesson sets up the workspace before the real work starts.
Theory
One key, one filing cabinet
A Google account is a single key that opens every app, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Gmail, no separate logins. And Drive is the filing cabinet where everything you make is stored and organised into folders. You do not hunt across scattered programs; you open the cabinet (Drive), and there is all your work, plus a 'New' button to create more. One key, one cabinet, everything in reach.
Follow along
Set up the project workspace
- Sign in with a free Google account One login for Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Gmail.
- Open Google Drive (drive.google.com) The cloud hub where all files live.
- New > Folder: make a 'Group Project' folder Organise everything in one place; share the folder with the team.
- Inside it, New > Docs / Sheets / Slides / Forms Each file is created and auto-stored in Drive.
At a glance
Create from Drive's New menu
| Choose | Creates | Stored in |
|---|---|---|
| Google Docs | A document | Drive |
| Google Sheets | A spreadsheet | Drive |
| Google Slides | A presentation | Drive |
| Google Forms | A survey/quiz | Drive |
Quiz
Where are Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and Forms files stored, and how are they created?
- All stored in Google Drive; created from Drive's New button (or the app URLs)
- On your computer's hard disk, like Word files
- In Gmail, as attachments
- Each app has its own separate, unconnected storage
Show the answer
All stored in Google Drive; created from Drive's New button (or the app URLs)
Google Drive is the central cloud hub: every Doc, Sheet, Slide and Form lives there and is created from Drive's New button (or by visiting the app, which still saves to Drive). One account ties them together. They are not on your hard disk (that is desktop Office) nor scattered in separate storages. Drive-as-the-hub is the key organising fact.
Think first
Why a shared folder first?
Priya makes a 'Group Project' folder in Drive and shares the FOLDER (not each file) with her team. Why is sharing the folder smarter than sharing each of the four files separately?
Show the answer
Sharing the folder grants the team access to everything inside it, now and in future, automatically. So when Priya later adds the slides or the form to the folder, teammates can already open them, no need to share each new file one by one. Share once at the folder level; every file within inherits the access. It is the tidy, scalable way to give a team access to a whole project. (Sharing details come in a later lesson.)
Watch out
Where marks leak
Thinking Google files are stored on your computer, they live in Drive (the cloud). Not knowing a single free Google account is the login for all apps. Missing that files are created from Drive's New menu (or the app URLs) and auto-stored there. And forgetting Drive organises with folders. The Drive-is-the-hub, one-account model is the foundation the exam expects you to state clearly.
Theory
Cabinet ready, now build
With the account signed in and a shared project folder in Drive, Priya's team has its workspace. Everything they create from here auto-files into that folder, reachable by all. Next, they open the first and most-used app, Google Docs, for the written report, and see how a cloud word processor differs from Word. Next: working with the specifics of Google Docs.
Summary
Key takeaways
- A single free Google account is the one login for all the apps.
- Google Drive is the central cloud hub: all files live there and are created from its New button.
- Docs, Sheets, Slides and Forms are all created from Drive (or their app URLs) and auto-stored in Drive.
- Folders in Drive organise files; sharing a folder grants access to everything inside it.
- Nothing is stored on your local hard disk, it is all in the cloud.
- Memory hook: one key (account), one filing cabinet (Drive), everything inside.