The key combinations for these shortcuts are the usual ones— Ctrl + C for copy (⌘ + C on Mac), Ctrl + X for cut, and Ctrl + V for paste. You can use these key combos to quickly copy or move files to new locations in Drive, and across multiple tabs on drive.google.com, instead of drag and drop or the right-click menu. According to Google, copying a file using the shortcut will also capture its title well as a link to it. This makes it easier to paste a hyperlinked file into a document or an email. Additionally, you can paste shortcuts to files in a folder with the Ctrl + Shift + V key combination. This will help you “organize files in multiple locations without necessarily creating duplicate files”. The Ctrl + Enter combo, meanwhile, will open files or folders in a new tab. Google says this will allow you to “easily view multiple files at once, or use different tabs to more easily organize files between two different folder locations.” Unfortunately, the ability to use keyboard shortcuts to cut, copy, and paste files in Google Drive on the web is still limited to the company’s in-house browser, i.e. Google Chrome. If you are a Microsoft Edge or Firefox user, or any other browser for that matter, you’re out of luck. You will have to rely on the right-click menu for these actions, at least for the time being. Hopefully, Google will add support for more browsers in the future. We will let you know if and when it does.
These keyboard shortcuts for Google Drive on the web are now rolling out
Google started rolling out the new keyboard shortcuts on the web client of Drive last Thursday, May 26th. As usual, users on Rapid Release domains will get the ability first, followed by those on Scheduled Release domains. The company hopes to make the shortcuts available to everyone by this Saturday, June 4th. All Google Workspace customers, as well as users with personal Google Accounts, will be able to use the shortcuts as long as they are using Drive on Google Chrome. Google Drive on the web also supports these shortcuts.
