This tutorial is about How to Scan Documents with Google Drive. To scan directly to Google Drive, you need a network-connected scanner – or a multifunction printer/scanner – that supports a Google Drive connection. You’ll also need access to a web browser and the Google account where you want to save the scanned items.
The world is not yet completely digital. The organizations we have work with still work with many paper documents in the form of letters, documentation, articles, photos or reference material. While many of these organizations use Google Drive and G Suite, most scan documents to a local computer or server.
Recently, however, these organizations have moved to scan-to-cloud backup services. Scanned documents are now stored directly in Google Drive. Unlike locally stored files, documents in Google Drive can be shared easily, are accessible from anywhere, and are easy to find with cloud search, which allows for keyword searches.
To scan directly to Google Drive, you need a network-connected scanner – or a multifunction printer/scanner – that supports a Google Drive connection. For example, we have configured both Brother and HP printers to scan directly to Google Drive. You’ll also need access to a web browser and the Google account where you want to save the scanned items. Follow the steps below to connect your scanner to Google Drive. But for document scanning? Maybe the thought of having to install yet another app on your Android device makes you nervous.
How to Scan Documents with Google Drive
Select the Google Drive app on your scanner
Step 1: When you select “Scan“, destinations such as a computer, SD card, or email are usually displayed.
Step 2: Instead, look for Google Drive somewhere in the app option on your scanner. You’ll probably have to navigate through some menus on your device to find it. Once you find it, open it to start the connection process.
Connect to a Google account
Step 1: Switch to your browser and go to the address specified on your scanner/printer. For example, if we have configuring scan-to-cloud for an HP printer, we have open my browser at http://www.google.com/device. Specify the Google account to receive your scans from your Gmail or G Suite address. In an enterprise setting, you can create an account specifically for the device. (If you do this, you can also share the destination folder with the people scanning documents).
Step 2: Then, enter the code displayed on the scanner/printer into the browser while logging into the Google account you selected above. This will ensure that you have both the Google account and the scanner/printer.
Protect with a PIN
Protect your account with a PIN – especially in an office environment. Once configured, you must enter the PIN every time you use the Google Drive app to scan. This protects your account in two ways: you prevent unwanted items from being scanned into your account, and you also prevent unauthorized access to your Google Drive documents. Without a PIN, anyone with access to your printer could browse and print files from Google Drive.
Configure scanning options
Step 1: On most devices, you can also choose from at least a few scanning options. These include things such as:
- Color or gray-scale,
- Resolution ( 75, 200, 300 dots per inch, etc.)
- File format ( PDF, JPG, PNG, etc.)
- Input (flat-bed or document-feeder)
Step 2: Your choice of file format will vary with the type of items you scan. If you scan documents, choose PDF (or searchable PDF, if it is available) as the default scanned file format. Otherwise, select PNG or TIFF (or JPG, if neither of these options is available) if the items you scan most often are photos or images.
Repeat for additional accounts
Repeat the above process to allow your device to send scans to different Google accounts or with different settings. For example, in one office we have connected a Brother printer to two different Google accounts and saved two scan shortcuts for each account – one for flatbed images, the other for document feeder scans. The four shortcuts allowed each employee to press a button, enter their PIN, and quickly scan different types of source documents.
Scan with your phone
You can also use your phone to scan items in Google Drive. The Google Drive Android app supports multi-page document scanner. Third-party apps, such as Scanbot or CamScanner, also support automatic upload of multi-page scans to Google Drive. (Scanbot and CamScanner offer both Android and iOS apps.) And Google’s own PhotoScan app is great for capturing and converting photos to digital files. However, a desktop scanner is probably faster if you want to scan multi-page, double-sided documents.
Final Words
We hope you understand this article How to Scan Documents with Google Drive. However, Google Drive has a document scanning tool that is more than suitable for handling batches of scanned documents. Since Google Drive is a cloud storage tool, you don’t need to export the documents after scanning. Moreover, it is easy to access the scanning tool directly from the Google Drive main page.
I hope you understand this article, How to Scan Documents with Google Drive.
