Is there a way to “mark as read” or “important” in Google Drive?

Question

I've been given shared access to a Google Drive folder that contains a large number of subfolder and files. Most of this is electrotechnical documentation.

However there's so much to read and not all files have easy-to-remember names. I'm looking for a way to mark which files I have viewed/read and the ones I haven't. Especially since a lot of new files will be added in the future. Also marking the most important files for future reference would be very useful.

A functionality that's native to Google Mail but seems absent on drive.

(files will mostly be pdf/word/excel)

edit: Simply "tagging" the files with soms keywords would also be okay if they're easy to view in the folders without having to open each file seperately.

Answer 1

You mentioned:

A.

I'm looking for a way to mark which files I have viewed/read and the ones I haven't.

B.

marking the most important files for future reference would be very useful.

for A
There is no function to mark files.
You can though create a new folder in your drive and create a shortcut in it by right-clicking the files you have viewed/read.

for B
You can star your important files

As an alternative one could use an add-on like metadriveweb or Drive Explorer or even a script and keep a record of the files/folders you want.

Answer 2

In Google Drive you can

• Star files
• Create workspaces and add files to them
• Create shortcut to files

Nowadays, Google Drive has quick access to Calendar, Keep and Tasks. They could be used to create events, notes and task with links to the files.

Also,

• In combination with your web browser, you can bookmark the files.
• In combination with your operative system, you could create shortcuts to Google Drive files the same way that you can create shortcuts to local files.

And there are a myriad of other tools to help to have your important files at hand.

Resources

• Get started with Drive > 4. Organize and search in Drive
• Use Google products side by side | Google Drive Help