Google Drive rolls out search chips to make it easier to find your files

Search chips are finding more places in Google's ecosystem.

Update, Feb 15 (4:25 p.m. ET): Rolling out to all Workspace users

What you need to know

• Google launched a new beta for Google Drive to better filter search results.
• The new feature works in a similar manner to Gmail's search chips.
• The beta release is available to all Google Workspace editions.

Gmail's handy feature for narrowing down search results in order to locate certain files faster is coming to Google Drive with a new beta update.

Google announced today that search chips are available on Google Drive as a beta update. As you might expect, it allows you to refine your search results when looking for specific files stored in Drive. This capability makes the search process faster, taking irrelevant results out of the equation.

Search chips appear only after you've entered your initial query. Above the list of results, you can use different chips to refine your search further. Multiple chips can be used at the same time as well. These filters include file location, attachment type, people, the date a file was last modified, and tasks.

The process helps ensure that the results are as close to your query as possible. More importantly, it also speeds up the method, so you don't lose much time sifting through results you don't want.

Drive search chips are available to all Workspace tiers. You can filter your search results on the best laptops, though it is unclear if you can do the same on Android. It's worth noting that Gmail's Android app picked up search chips in September, so the same functionality arriving for Drive's mobile app is not out of the question.

Google says the beta program will be open to domains in the coming weeks. If you are an eligible end user, you can also join the beta program by clicking here. If you are approved, you will have access to the chips in the Google groups provided during sign-up.

Update, Feb 15 (4:25 p.m. ET) Search chips out of beta, rolling out now

After a brief beta phase, Google has announced that search chips are now generally available, meaning you'll no longer have to sign up for the beta to use the new feature. Search chips will roll out to Workspace and G Suite users over a two-week period starting February 15.