Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides Are Getting a New Look

Google is preparing to relese a new user interface for some of its most popular cloud-based apps, including Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides.

The interface update will take advantage of Material Design 3(Opens in a new window), which is the latest version of Google's open-source design system. The focus of the redesign is to remove clutter(Opens in a new window) and present a simpler interface.

For Docs, Sheets, and Slides, users should expect features used most frequently to appear on the user interface at the top, and the experience of using existing features including commenting, background, rulers, and gridlines has been improved. Google does warn users, however, that some features have changed location on the interface in order to avoid clutter.

Google Drive users will be happy to hear that the user interface revamp will include a number of feature improvements. It will be possible to select multiple items and perform batch operations on them, there are new search chips (including type, owner, and last modified) to make finding files faster, and Drive will surface key actions inline on files to improve productivity.

Google will begin rolling out the refreshed user interface to all end users starting on March 6, and everyone should see the new design by March 25 barring any unforeseen delays. While that's happening, perhaps it's a good opportunity to revisit your home office to check it's a safe and healthy place to work.

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