Quick Training
Learn to use FileDrop like a Pro
Here you can learn the basics of using FileDrop. All our Docs articles are available in the help section.
Important note! Until the issue with using a Google add-on when signed in with multiple Google accounts is resolved, use FileDrop with only one signed-in Google account. You can also use it in the private mode tab or a single Chrome profile.
You can also take our FileDrop course: Mastering FileDrop.
Getting started
Please use Chrome when using FileDrop or other Google Workspace addons. Firefox is a good alternative, other browsers like Safari might cause issues.
Upload Files
Start Filedrop by clicking the Extensions menu-> click FileDrop-> Start FileDrop. If you don’t see it please refresh the document/page.
Select a cell in the Google Sheets and just drag and drop your file in the FileDrop upload area. Your file will be automatically uploaded to your Google Drive in the FileDrop folder.
If you want to share the files you upload with your colleagues or team select the correct permissions in the settings tab.
The FileDrop folder is created automatically when you install the add-on.
Your files will appear as “filename.ext” and it will be linked automatically to the file in Google Drive in the respective cells.
The second option is to click the Choose files button and the file explorer on your computer will open and you can search or select the files you want to upload.
Here is our intro video
Please also read
How do I add files from Google Drive
Select and insert multiple files
Using the Drive Tab
To add or insert files from your Google Drive please open FileDrop and go to the Drive tab. Here you can browse through your entire Drive and folders and add files from there.
You can search for files or browse all your folders in your Google Drive.
To insert a file you already have all you need to to is click on the file and it will be added to your cell.
Optionally:
List or insert all files in a Google Drive folder
If you want to share the files you add with your colleagues or team select the correct permissions in the settings tab.
Learn how to upload files directly to your Google Drive.
This is a paid feature, please upgrade so you can use it.
Settings
The settings are set for each individual Sheet or Docs document where you are using FileDrop.
This way some documents can be used for working with colleagues and others for private work and have different settings where files are saved, images or OCR settings.
Save Folder
Here you can change where the files are saved* or rename* the folder.
Enable AI and Settings
Enable the advanced functions and AI features.
Image Settings
Here you can change the way images are used in your Sheet.
1. Don’t add image – the image will be added to cell as a regular file with the name linked to the Drive file location.
2. Image over cells – the image will be added on over the cells of your Spreadsheet
3. Image in cell – the image will be added in the cell. Optionally you can set width and height of the cell.
OCR Text Settings
Depending on what you plan to do with the text you have two options, this is only in Sheets, not Docs.
- All text in one cell – all the text will be added in one cell.
- Line in a new cell – text will be added on multiple rows and columns.
File Access Settings
Here you can change who has access to the files you add to the Sheet.
Change the access settings to fit your use case.
*Available only for premium accounts.
The Folder Tools Sidebar
The Folder Tools sidebar offers several tools users can use for different tasks related to Google Drive actions.
Copy Files Organized in Sheets to New Folder
Share File or Folder
Sheets AI Sidebar
All Business+ users have access to our Chat GPT function. You don’t need an Open AI key, the tokens are included in your subscription.
To use the AI function you need to do the following.
Step 1 – Enable AI
In the settings tab click the Enable AI button.
Step 2 – Open the AI sidebar
You can use the Extension Menu > FileDrop> Sheets AI
Or the bottom tools menu in FileDrop
Step 3 – Enter your prompt in the sidebar
Once the sidebar is open you can enter the prompt. The prompt is the command or the question you have for ChatGPT AI.
An example you can view in our video below where ask to generate a formula.
To use the AI functions in Sheets cells see here.
GPT AI Functions
All Business+ users have unlimited access to our Chat GPT functions. You don’t need an Open AI key, the tokens are included in your subscription.
Free accounts have 5 credits per month.
To use the AI function you need to do the following.
Step 1
In the settings tab click the Enable AI button.
Step 2
Call the GPTAI function like this, where A4 is the cell where I want to insert data from. In the example below we called the function to create tweets about a few personalities with included hashtags.
=GPTAI(“write a tweet about “&A4&“, include hashtags”)
Here you can find the GPTAI functions for FileDrop.
Save values
To save the results of the function use one of these buttons.
Save All Values – will save the values of all functions from the entire sheet.
Save Selected Values – will save the values of the selected cell.
*This is a Beta feature and we will add more functions to it in the coming weeks.
Translate PRO for Sheets and Slides
Our translation engine is available for Google Sheets and Google Slides.
Please enable the paid features in the settings tab before using this feature. If you already enabled this go to the next step.
For Google Sheets you can easily translate cells, sheets or entire spreadsheets with one click.
For Google Slides you can translate elements, slides or entire presentations.
THIS SERVICE MAY CONTAIN TRANSLATIONS POWERED BY GOOGLE. GOOGLE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES RELATED TO THE TRANSLATIONS, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTIES OF ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, AND ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.
OCR Text Extraction
FileDrop has multiple ways to do OCR Text Extraction.
Insert images in cells
1. Go to settings
To insert images in cells to to the settings tab and select the Image in cell option. Enter one at a time the width and height of your cells.
2. Sharing with access permissions rules
If you want to share the sheet with other set the appropriate permissions.
You can share some files with one type of access and others with a different type of access.
The access setting must be set before you insert/add files to your Sheets. The default setting is PRIVATE.
The options from the most secure to the less secure:
PRIVATE – Only people explicitly granted permission can access the files inserted with FileDrop.
DOMAIN WITH LINK – People in your domain who have the link can access. Not for users with @gmail.com.
DOMAIN – People in your domain (email@domain.com) can access. Not for users with @gmail.com.
ANYONE WITH LINK – Anyone who has the link can access. For any type of Google emails or Workspace accounts.
ANYONE – Anyone can access. For any type of Google emails or Workspace accounts.
3. Use the drag and drop interface or select
Go back to the upload tab and drag and drop your images. The image will upload in your Drive folder and it will display in the Sheet cell.
- Free users can add up to 4 images at once.
- Paid users can add up to 25 images based on your plan.
4. Bulk image insert
To insert images in bulk please use the Drive tab with the insert all button or select only the images you want.
An alternative is our dedicated Image Kit sidebar.
Image Kit Sidebar
Insert images in bulk using the Image Kit sidebar
The Image Kit Sidebar is a set of tools for managing images in Google Sheets. The functions here are available to Pro and Business+ users.
Please enable the paid features in the settings tab before using this feature.
The sidebar is available from the Extension menu->FileDrop->Image Kit or from the Tools menu in FileDrop
List Images
With the List Images tool you can list images from your Google Drive folders in your Google Sheet cells in bulk. Currently you can list up to 2000 files, more files might give errors.
To start please enter your Folder ID and click the List Images button. If you have different types of files in the folder it will only list images (jpeg, png, and gif). Depending on the number of images in your folder it might take a few seconds for the files to display.
In the Sheet you will see the image Name, Date added, URL of the image in your Drive and the Image.
The images are currently inserted with the IMAGE function and the option 1. You can resize the images by resizing the cells of the sheet.
You can use the Google Sheets filter function to sort the images in the Sheet.
Download Images from URL
Use this feature to download the images from any page online.
Add the url and the Drive folder ID where you want the images to be saved.
Camera Modal
Access the computer camera in your Google Sheets and take photos that are saved in your Sheet and Google Drive folders.
Learn more here.
If you want to add many files to your Google Sheets the best way is to upload your files in a Google Drive folder and use one of the options below.
a. Use the Drive tab and the Insert All button: https://getfiledrop.com/help/
b1. The Drive tab with select and insert: https://getfiledrop.com/help/
b2. Insert files in alphabetical order: https://getfiledrop.com/help/getting-started/insert-multiple-files-alphabetically/
c. List files with the Folder Tools Sidebar Share tool: https://getfiledrop.com/help/features/list-files-in-bulk-from-google-drive-folder/
d. To list images, please use the Image Kit sidebar: https://getfiledrop.com/help/
To use these tools, you must have a premium plan.
Don’t forget to set the permissions before adding the files if you are sharing them with others.
The most common error
The multiple Google accounts login issue
The upload error can be caused when you are logged in with two or multiple google accounts. This is a known Google accounts bug that they won’t fix.
When you are logged in with multiple Google accounts add-ons cannot work properly.
To workaround this issue/limitation, you can add different profiles to your Chrome browser with the email address of your FileDrop license and switch to the profile to use the add-on only with that account.
Instructions
Please make sure you are logged in with only one Google account or switch the profile in your browser as above.
Step 1
Click on the profile icon and click the Sign out of all accounts.
Step 2
Now that you are logged out off all accounts login back only with the Google account where FileDrop is installed.
