Upload a file

Choose New, then Upload file. Pick where the files should land, choose Choose files, then choose Add. Each file is verified on your device, transferred, and then processed for preview and search.

Upload

1. Choose New in the left rail, then Upload file. The panel opens with the title Upload files.
2. Check Save to. Uploads go to My Drive unless you started from a managed folder, in which case that folder is preselected. The helper text says Uploads save to your current managed folder when you start from one, and to My Drive otherwise. Choose a managed folder when the upload should be available there.
3. Choose Choose files, or drag the files onto the panel.
4. Review the queue. Each row shows the file, its size and its state.
5. Choose Add. The button reads Adding during the upload and Done when the queue finishes.

You can upload up to 1,000 files in one go. Above that, Drive says Too many files selected. Upload up to 1,000 files at a time.

You can also drop files straight onto the My Drive area without opening the panel. An overlay appears reading Drop your files to upload.

What each state means

State	What is happening
Ready to upload	The file is queued. Nothing has been sent.
Verifying file	Drive is hashing the file on your device. The panel says Nothing has been sent yet. Upload URLs are signed after this finishes.
Preparing upload	Drive is resolving the destination and signing the transfer.
Uploading	Bytes are moving. A large file is split into parts, and the row counts the finished parts against the total.
Waiting for connection	The network dropped. The upload resumes on its own.
Saving item	The transfer finished and Drive is registering the file.
Processing	Drive is extracting text, metadata and previews.
Uploaded	The file is in Drive and its row links to it.

Files over 100 MB use a multipart transfer, so closing and reopening the page keeps their progress. The panel says If the page reloads mid-transfer, large uploads keep their progress and can be resumed from where they left off.

Six files transfer at a time. You can minimise the panel and keep working; the uploads carry on.

Describe an image or add captions

Each queued row offers the accessibility fields its type needs.

• An image gets Alt text, with the prompt Describe this image for people using screen readers, and a Decorative image (empty alt text) checkbox for an image that carries no information.
• Audio and video get captions. The hint reads A transcript is generated automatically during processing. You can upload a corrected WebVTT captions file at any time. Once the file exists in Drive, Add captions (.vtt) accepts a WebVTT file up to 10 MB.

Resume an unfinished upload

If a transfer was interrupted, the panel shows Unfinished uploads from a previous session with the progress so far. Resume continues from the last saved part, and asks you to pick the same file again. Discard drops it. Picking a different file is refused, and the message names the file to pick to continue the upload.

If it did not work

• Read the message on the failed row and the recommended action under it. It names the next step, such as Try again or Choose another file.
• A rejected file type means the format is not in the catalogue: see Accepted file types.
• For each failure message and what it means, see Upload failed.
• Add stays disabled while accepted file types are still loading, while My Drive is being prepared, and when nothing uploadable is selected. The panel states which of those applies.