If you frequently use Google’s suite of productivity web apps, learning and using shortcuts can greatly save you time while using the app, letting you zip through tasks easily. Now, Google is changing the shortcuts around a bit, and while they’re a bit harder to get right now, the reasoning makes sense.
Google has rolled out a set of revamped shortcuts for the web version of Google Drive. Some of the new shortcuts, which are currently being rolled out to users, are actually pretty similar to the shortcuts you already have. The only difference between those old shortcuts with the new shortcuts is that you now need to hold down a modifier key while inputting the actual shortcut (alt in the case of Windows and option in the case of macOS). Other shortcuts are slightly different, but the ongoing theme here is that none of them start with a letter but with a modifier/function key.
All of this is being done with the purpose of enabling first-letter navigation. If you want to highlight an item within Google Drive that starts with a specific letter, or a specific set of letters, you can just type in those letters and the item will be highlighted. The full list of revamped shortcuts goes as follows:
Shortcut description
Navigation and views
Go to navigation panel (folders list)
alt+gthennalt+gthenf
option+gthennoption+gthenf
Go to items view
alt+gtheni
option+gtheni
Switch between grid and list in items view
alt+vthenl
option+vthenl
Go to page content
alt+gthenc
option+gthenc
Go to details pane
alt+gthend
option+gthend
Go to top of application (Google bar)
alt+gthent
option+gthent
Go to download status
alt+gthena
option+gthena
Go to upload status
alt+gthenu
option+gthenu
Show or hide approvals pane
alt+vthene
option+vthene
Show or hide details pane
alt+vthend
option+vthend
Show or hide activity pane
alt+vthena
option+vthena
Select items
Select or deselect item
shift+space
Select next item down
down arrow
Select next item up
up arrow
Select next item to the left
left arrow
Select next item to the right
right arrow
Extend selection down
shift+down arrow
Extend selection up
shift+up arrow
Extend selection left
shift+left arrow
Extend selection right
shift+right arrow
Select all visible items
ctrl+a
command+a
Clear all selections
esc
Move between items
Move down without changing selection
ctrl+down arrow
command+down arrow
Move up without changing selection
ctrl+up arrow
command+up arrow
Move left without changing selection
ctrl+left arrow
command+left arrow
Move right without changing selection
ctrl+right arrow
command+right arrow
Take action on selected items
Open selected items
enter
Open selected items in new tab
ctrl+enter
command+enter
Rename selected items
Share selected items
ctrl+alt+a
command+option+a
Move selected items to new folder
ctrl+alt+m
command+option+m
Star or unstar selected items
ctrl+alt+s
command+option+s
Create shortcuts to selected items
ctrl+alt+r
command+option+r
Remove selected items
deleteor#
Copy selected item URLs to the clipboard
ctrl+alt+l
command+option+l
Copy selected item titles to the clipboard
ctrl+shift+c
command+shift+c
Cut selected items to the clipboard
ctrl+x
command+x
Paste items from the clipboard as a shortcut
ctrl+shift+v
command+shift+v
Paste selected items from the clipboard or move selected items from the clipboard
Create a shortcut for the selected item
Redo last undone action
ctrl+y
command+y
Upload file
alt+cthenu
control+cthenu
Upload folder
alt+ctheni
control+ctheni
Create new items
alt+cthent
control+cthent
alt+cthenp
control+cthenp
alt+cthens
control+cthens
alt+cthend
control+cthend
alt+cthenf
control+cthenf
alt+ctheno
control+ctheno
Open menus
Create menu
alt+n
control+n
More actions menu
shift+F10alt+a
shift+F10control+a
Current folder actions menu
alt+shift+a
control+shift+a
Sort menu
alt+r
control+r
Settings menu
control+shift+s
command+shift+s
Application actions
Display keyboard shortcuts list
ctrl+/
command+/
Choose next visual density (row height and element spacing for list view)
alt+tthenq
control+tthenq
Find/find next
ctrl+f
command+f
ctrl+p
command+p
Undo last action
ctrl+z
command+z
Show last message
alt+gthenk
option+gthenk
/
Preview mode actions
Preview items
ctrl+alt+p
command+option+p
space
Zoom in
+or=
Zoom out
-
You can go to Settings > Keyboard shortcuts > Update now if you want to use them now, but Google should automatically make the switch by August 1st for everyone.
