Gemini in the side panel of Google Drive introduces a new PDF viewing experience

What’s changing

You can now interact with the Gemini side panel while viewing PDFs. This new viewing experience works with all kinds of PDFs, such as:

Scanned PDFs: Pictures of paper documents turned into PDFs. Native PDFs: PDFs created on a computer, not from a scan.Text-heavy PDFs: Long PDFs with lots of writing. Table-heavy PDFs: PDFs with complicated tables. With this update, you can use Gemini in Drive to help you with PDF files in the following ways:

Summarize: Get a quick overview of long, complicated PDFs. Ask questions: Find specific information or insights from the PDF. Create new content: Use PDF contents to make something new, like a study guide or an email draft. Bring in more information: Combine the PDF with other files you have in Google Drive by typing @.

Getting started

Admins: To access Gemini in the side panel of Workspace apps, users need to have smart features and personalization turned on. Admins can turn on default personalization setting for their users in the Admin console. End users: To access this feature, double-click on a PDF from the Google Drive doclist to open it in a new tab > click on the Gemini icon in the top bar next to your profile picture. When using this for the first time, you’ll see a welcome dialogue that automatically opens the side panel. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using Gemini in Drive to work with PDFs.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on July 30, 2024Scheduled Release domains: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility) starting on August 12, 2024