Learn to use Gemini in your Google Drive files (Workspace Experiments)

Important:

Gemini in file viewer currently supports PDF and video file types.
Some Gemini features are only available in English.

You can use Gemini in Drive file viewer to work with supported file types in several ways:

Summarize: Get a quick overview of PDFs and videos.
Ask questions: Find specific information or insights from a PDF or video.
Create new content: Use a PDF to make something new, like a study plan or an email draft.
Bring in more information: Combine the PDF with other files you have in Google Drive by typing @.
Identify action items: To check if you missed any important action items, use your meeting recordings.

Feature availability

This feature is available as part of our early access testing program, Google Workspace Experiments.
To turn off Google Workspace Experiments features, exit the Workspace Experiments program.
This feature is also available through an eligible Google Workspace or Google AI plan. Learn about Gemini features and plans.

Open Drive file viewer

When you double click a PDF or video in Drive, it opens in the overlay file viewer. To find and work with a PDF or video and open a dedicated space:

On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
Double-click a PDF or video.
Click More actions Open with Open in new tab .

Tip: To adjust the default settings to open a PDF, go to your Drive settings.

Get automatic summaries of your files

To open the Gemini side panel in Drive file viewer, you can click Ask Gemini at the top right of the navigation bar.

When you open Gemini in the file viewer, the side panel automatically summarizes the file for you. The summary gives a quick overview of the main points in the PDF or video.

Ask questions & get answers

You can ask Gemini questions about the PDF or video you're viewing.

In the side panel’s textbox, enter a question.
- You can also select a starter tile to use a template prompt.
Check the answer from the side panel.
To provide feedback on the answer, click thumbs-up or thumbs-down.

Get the sources of Gemini's answers

To generate an answer, Gemini uses the most relevant sources. These sources may include the open PDF or video, other files in your Drive, information from the web, or a mix of these sources.

To help you understand where the information comes from and verify its accuracy, Gemini provides links to the sources of its answers.

Sources are expanded by default.
Clicking on a source chip will open that source file in a new tab.

Turn off Gemini in Drive

To turn off any of the features on Google Workspace Experiments, you must exit Workspace Experiments. If you exit, you’ll permanently lose access to all Workspace Experiments features, and you won’t be able to rejoin Workspace Experiments. Learn more about how to exit Workspace Experiments.

Learn about Workspace Experiments feature suggestions

Workspace Experiments feature suggestions don’t represent Google’s views, and should not be attributed to Google.
Don’t rely on Workspace Experiments features as medical, legal, financial, or other professional advice.
Workspace Experiments features may suggest inaccurate or inappropriate information. Your feedback makes Workspace Experiments more helpful and safe.
Don’t include personal, confidential, or sensitive information.
Google uses Workspace Experiments data and metrics to provide, improve, and develop products, services, and machine learning technologies across Google. When you interact with Workspace Experiments features, Google collects your Workspace Experiments data, including your prompts and input, prompt and input refinements, generated output, generated output refinements, and feedback. Google also collects metrics on the usage of these features.
To help develop Workspace Experiments features, human reviewers may read, annotate, and process your Workspace Experiments interactions data.
Your conversations with Gemini in Drive are not saved to Gemini Apps Activity. When you delete your Gemini in Drive conversation history, it doesn't delete any information that is saved to your Gemini Apps Activity. Learn how to delete your Gemini Apps Activity.

How Workspace Experiments data in Google Drive is collected

When you use the Gemini in Drive side panel, Google uses and stores the following data:

Prompts you enter or select
Generated text
Google Workspace content that you have access to that is referenced to generate content (both Google-selected input and user-provided input).
Your feedback on the Gemini in Drive side panel.

To understand how this data is used, review the Google Workspace Experiments Privacy Notice and Terms for Personal Accounts.