Everyday tasks

How to open and preview a file

Who can use thisMembers and Super Admins

Permission you need

View files and folders

Set by your workspace admin. If you cannot do this, ask them for access.

You can read or play most files inside Drive without downloading them. Tap a file card and it opens in a viewer.

How to open a file

In My Files (or any folder, Shared or Favourites), tap the file. A viewer opens over the page.
Use the path bar at the top: My Files › file name. Tap My Files or the × to go back to the list.
Use the three icons at the top right: i shows the file's details, the share icon opens the Share dialog, and × closes the viewer.

What each type looks like

Images open full size. Swipe left or right to move through the images in the same folder.
Image viewer
On this screen
- Path bar and the details, share and close icons across the top.
- The image fills the page.
- Counter – 1 / 3 means this is the first of three images in the folder.
PDFs open with their pages in the viewer. Scroll to read.
PDF viewer
On this screen
- Page content is drawn large; here a report titled Q3 Business Report.
- Scrolling moves through the pages.
- Header icons – details, share and close, as everywhere.
Word documents (DOC, DOCX) open in the document viewer.
Word document viewer
On this screen
- Document body – the text of the file, such as Project proposal – Goals, scope, timeline and budget for the new initiative.
- Path bar shows the file name Project_Proposal.docx.
Excel and CSV files open as a spreadsheet grid, with a tab for each sheet.
Spreadsheet viewer
On this screen
- Sheet tab – top left, here Budget. A workbook with several sheets shows one tab each.
- Grid – rows and columns as in the original (Department, Q1 to Q4 and the figures).
- The grid is read-only; nothing you tap changes the file.
Audio files open in a music-style player.
Audio player
On this screen
- Cover area – a headphones icon, the file name and the person who uploaded it.
- Timeline – the slider with the elapsed and total time (00:05 / 00:05 here, because the clip had finished).
- Play/Pause – the large round button in the middle.
- Skip back / forward – the two arrow buttons either side jump 10 seconds.

Video, code and data files, SVG, PowerPoint and ZIP are covered in Supported file types.

If a file does not preview

PowerPoint, ZIP and other unsupported types show a File Details card with Share and Download instead. See A file opens as File Details.

Last updated 2026-10-22