Managing files
This page covers working with Drive in the browser panel: creating folders, uploading, browsing, and changing what's shared. Managing files is a permission — if the actions below are missing for you, your role is view-only (you can still browse, download and comment); ask an administrator to grant file management via Templates.
Browsing
The top level shows the three areas — Personal, Team and Shared. Open an area to see its folders and files; open a folder to go deeper. The path at the top (the breadcrumb) shows where you are — click any part of it to jump back, or use the .. row to go up one level.
Most actions are on the right-click menu. Right-click a file or folder for its actions, or right-click empty space for the folder's actions (new folder, upload, paste).
Creating a folder
Right-click empty space and choose New folder, then enter a name. The folder is created in the area you're currently in.
Uploading files
Two ways:
- Drag files from your computer straight onto the Drive window.
- Right-click empty space and choose Upload file.
Files land in the folder you're in and take that folder's area. Any file type is accepted; you can select several at once.
🎬 GIF: dragging a few files onto Drive to upload them
Views
Switch how the list looks with the buttons in the toolbar:
- List view — a table with name, size and date.
- Grid view — tiles with a thumbnail; images show a preview.
- Columns view — two panes side by side, handy for moving items between folders.
The Preview panel button opens a side panel that shows the selected item's name, type, size and date, a preview for images, and a download button for uploaded files.
Search
The search box in the toolbar filters the current folder by name as you type. Move to another folder and the search resets.
Renaming, moving and deleting
Right-click an item:
- Rename — change its name.
- Cut, then Paste in another folder — moves the item there. (Moving into a folder gives the item that folder's area, but not the people it is shared with — see below.)
- Delete — removes the item after a confirmation. Anything inside a deleted folder moves up one level rather than being removed with it.
Downloading
Uploaded files have a Download action (on the right-click menu and in the preview panel). Folders have nothing to download.
Sharing: two different things
The area decides who sees an item by default. An item belongs to the area it lives in, so moving it changes that: cut it and paste it into a Team or Shared folder and it becomes visible to the team or to everyone; move it back into a Personal folder and it is yours alone again.
Named access and links are set per item. On top of the area you can give a specific person a role — reader, commenter or editor — or hand out a link that works for someone without a Qubix account, optionally with a password and an expiry date. That is a separate dialog and a separate article: Sharing files and documents.
Create a shared folder once, in the Shared or Team area, then work inside it. Everything takes the folder's area automatically, whether you create it there or move it in.
Named access behaves differently: a file you create or upload in a folder inherits the people it is shared with, while a file you move in keeps its own — share that one separately. See Sharing files and documents.