Google Drive upgrades with Gemini AI insights, but only for paid subscribers

Google Drive is making it easier to know what's inside a folder

Google has gone to great lengths to integrate Gemini into every Workspace product, including Drive. As part of this push, Google introduced "nudges" at the top of the Drive home page and individual folders back in March. These nudges offered one-click access to key Gemini actions, such as the ability to summarize entire folders or files. Related Google Drive now lets you chat with your images Goodbye, text-only analysis Posts By Karandeep Singh Oberoi Aug 26, 2025 Now, Google is announcing an "evolution" of these AI nudges in the form of "insights." Instead of the horizontally placed chips at the top, users will now see "Insights from Gemini," offering a summary of all the files in the folder. Google says this will make it easier to quickly gauge what's in the folder without having to dive into each file. For more info on the folder's contents, users can tap the "Explore with Gemini" chip within the insights panel at the top. This opens the Gemini side panel with a "full summary" of the folder. As you would expect, the side panel also lets you ask follow-up questions about the contents. A logical evolution of nudges This new insights section effectively replaces the existing "Ask Gemini" panel, which includes the soon-to-be-replaced nudges. In Google's own words, the updated panel replaces "simple suggestions" with "proactive, intelligent summaries." The insights panel also comes with thumbs-up and thumbs-down icons to rate the quality of the summary. Google says the feature will be enabled by default, but users can collapse the panel if they don't want insights generated each time a folder is opened. If you find these insights to be too intrusive, you can hide them entirely by disabling smart features in Drive from the privacy settings page. However, this may come at the expense of losing out on some of the other Gemini-related features. Related NotebookLM just made working with Google Drive a lot easier Search smarter, not harder Posts By Rahul Naskar Oct 8, 2025 This updated insights panel is only available in English right now and will roll out over the next few weeks to the Google One AI Premium and Google AI Pro for Education tiers, as well as Workspace Business Standard/Plus, and Enterprise Standard/Plus customers. The introduction of the Insights with Gemini panel follows the launch of "Catch me up" in June. This feature provides an overview of file edits in Docs since your last visit, as well as details on comments across Docs, Sheets, and Slides files.

Google Drive is getting improved search, but there's a catch

If you've ever found searching through your folders on Google Drive to be a chore, the company has good news. There's a catch, however -- and naturally it involves your wallet. Google revealed its list of upcoming changes to Drive this week. Most revolve around further integrating Gemini, the company's AI tool. Gemini will now preview what's inside a folder in Drive, making it easier to find what you're looking for without opening individual files. "Gemini will now proactively provide insights about the files within a folder, right at the top of the folder view," the announcement says. "This makes it easier to quickly understand what's inside without having to open individual files. For a more in-depth look, you can click 'Explore with Gemini' to get a full summary or ask follow up questions in the Gemini side panel." Here's what that looks like: "This feature is designed to help you save time and stay organized by providing at-a-glance insights into your folders," Google wrote. As tech site Android Authority pointed out, this helpful upgrade is available only to paid Google Workspace users, or folks with a Gemini Plus or Pro subscription. So if it looks nifty and you don't have one of those accounts already, you'll have to pay up.