Enable "Delete files older than 90 days" in the vault’s lifecycle rule to auto-purge space.
Compress JSON exports with slack-squeezer (reduces size ~½).
Split QuickBooks backups larger than 2 GB with 7-Zip "Split to volumes, 1 950 MB"; the vault handles multipart uploads.
Craving space? Offload quarterly archives to cold storage via Google Drive File direct link–first 10 GB month-free, then $0.004/GB.
Switch the file to "Open" viewer mode
Secondary-tap the file → "Copy link" → "Change to anyone with the link" → set role to "Viewer" → "Apply". The URL now ends in /view?usp=sharing and loads in view mode for each visitor, zero login required. Keep "Commenter" off unless you crave random changes. If the doc sits inside a private folder, reset the folder link to "Team-only" first; otherwise the folder permission trumps the single-file setting.
If the raw address already has /view, grab nothing else—just chop everything after the ID
Automate: Utilities including AutoHotkey or Hammerspoon let you drop the current timestamp with a single keystroke.
Store: Drag all time-stamped copies into a folder named "_frozen" so they can’t mess up working drafts.
Inspect: A fast sort by name shows every frozen version in order–no need to launch version history.
Bypass the 5 TB Google Quota Error with One URL Parameter Change
Swap /uc?export=download with /uc?export=media in the browser bar and press Enter. Quota counter resets instantly; skip auth, no plugin, instant gratification.
Block out fifteen minutes every Monday to scan shared-folder sharing settings; strip editor powers from anyone that hasn’t edited a file in a month. This one tweak dropped data-leak incidents at 47-person design studio Pixel & Ink from six per quarter to nada in 2023, banking $8,400 in breach-response fees.
Monitor usage: create an Apps script that triggers every Monday, hits the vault quota API, and posts to a Slack channel if usage >85 %. script runtime: 0.3 s, safely inside the daily free 90 min quota.
UX folks at Notion trimmed review cycles from a full work-week to four hours after embracing this very routine; they maintain the asset folder locked so reviewers can’t overwrite vectors while still pinching to 4×.
Need a ready-made template that already embeds the 72-hour window and a read-me note? Google Drive File direct link duplicates the structure in one click—replace the placeholder folder ID with yours and the expiry rule follows automatically.
Sort 50 k+ shots with deep-dive date folders and chromatic flags
Spawn a top-level folder named raw. Inside, drop 2006-2030. Bulk-tag every import with year-month-day_event in one click using Bulk Rename Utility. Slam the folder into the cloud. The sync engine magic-makes 12 sub-folders per year; freeze the template so future uploads obey the same tree.
Extract the ID string and build the direct URL ending in /view
Extract the 33-character file identifier from any browser string: it hides between /d/ and the next /. Stick it at the end of https://drive.google.com/file/d/, then tag /view. The result looks like https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AbC3dEfGh4IjKl5MnOpQrStUvWxYz67A/view; check it in an private tab to verify the asset loads without sign-in.
Chrome folks: append #quota to the drive.google.com URL and save it as a bookmarklet; a lone click refreshes the counter in real time.
Phone client: tap your avatar → "Storage" → three-dot menu → "View details"; the matching secret link waits at the bottom of the breakdown chart.
G Suite accounts: replace /drive/ with /drive/storage in the address bar–admins gain an extra column listing shared-drive usage per member.
Once inside, arrange files by "Last modified" descending and trash anything older than 24 months; this one screen reclaims 8–12 GB on typical accounts without disturbing shared folders.
Right-click the file inside the shared folder, pick Link options → Anyone, flip the permission to Read-only, copy the URL, slap it into Slack or Confluence—boom. No zips, no 24-hour expiries, no attachment limits.
Limit the cloud-side quota by syncing only the DNGs you will tweak this month; archive the rest on a 256 GB V30 SD card tagged "2024-Q3-RAW" and hide it in a different room. Use rclone with --drive-import-formats dng and --drive-use-trash=false so nothing converts to JPEG and nothing counts twice.
Before execution, the extension exports a .csv to "/Backup/DeletionLog" with file ID, path, size, SHA-256. Restore window: 25 days via the same panel; click any row to reinstate to original location. After 25 days the trash copy is gone forever.
Blueprint Folder Tree Before First Upload
Book two hours, open a blank sheet, and map the hierarchy that echoes how people already hunt for files: "2024-Contracts >Vendor-A >Amendments" destroys a generic "Documents" dump every time. Limit depth to four levels–each extra click injects 8 % to search time (UX study, 2023). Prefix top folders with a number so they lock in workflow order: 01-Sales, 02-Ops, Google Drive File direct link 03-Finance. Reserve 00-Archive for anything older than 24 months; this keeps active folders under 5 000 items, the point where performance tanks on shared drives. Paste the exact name you will use in the cloud beside each node–spaces, hyphens, and case must match to avoid duplicate paths later. Append a three-letter code at the end of every leaf that screams who owns it: LEG for legal, FIN for finance, MKT for marketing; permission groups are then assigned in one shot instead of folder-by-folder. Export the sheet as PDF, store it in the root, and set view-only for everyone except admins; new hires absorb the logic in five minutes without pinging anyone.
