Large files are a common occurrence. You may hate them but can’t entirely prevent them. As the quality of a file increases, so does its size. For example: Back in the early days of the 2000s, an ISO file comprising Windows XP installation was only 475 MB in size. These days, modern operating system versions are about 4.5 GB in size. That is to say, it’s an increase of a whopping 847% with an increase in the quality of the end-user product.
Organizing data on the cloud helps improve productivity. Renaming files is 1 important step in the data-organizing process. Use Cloud File Renamer to rename files on Google Drive (and OneDrive, Dropbox, and Amazon S3).
Rename Google Drive data with speed
Cloud File Renamer uses the official cloud drive APIs to gain limited access to your data
Much like any other cloud storage platform, Google Drive has its own maximum file size limits for previewing files. For example: For Google Docs and Google Sheets, the max size limits for previewing are 50 MB and 100 MB respectively. Other file types have their own maximum file size limits although they are not disclosed officially.
Solution 1: Split Large Files into Smaller Files
You can split such large files into smaller files to preview efficiently. Here are some key ideas:
- Split a large file into smaller parts (You can do that using various tools depending on the file format)
- Use a custom file naming scheme for the smaller parts. For example: Project A – Part 1.pdf, Project A – Part 2.pdf, Project A – Part 3.pdf, and so on. (You can use Cloud File Renamer for that.)
How to Split a Large PDF Document?
To split a large PDF document, use a free extension Split PDF Files available on the Google Workspace. You can either export the splitted files into a single output folder, or into the same folder containing your large file.
Please note that you’ll need to assign the required permissions to the plugin to access and manage your Google Drive documents.
How to Split a Large ZIP/ RAR File?
Splitting large ZIP/ RAR files is easy but time consuming.
- First, download the large ZIP/ RAR file you want to split.
- Open the 7-Zip File Manager, a free tool used to extract or create compressed files.
- Browse the “Downloads” folder and right-click the large ZIP/ RAR file you want to split.
- Select “Split file” option.
- In the new dialog box, enter the location where you want to store the splitted file parts.
- In the Split to Volume drop-down box, specify the maximum file size limit in Bytes for splitted parts.
- Click on OK to proceed.
How to Split Other Files?
Need to split other large files? Don’t worry, there’s an easy way:
- Open the 7-Zip File Manager.
- Go to the location that contains your large file.
- Select the large file you want to split.
- Click on the “Add” icon on the top.
- Enter a name for the archive file.
- Choose the Archive Format among .ZIP, .RAR, .tar or .gzip. These are the only supported archive formats for previewing.
- In the “Split to Volume” drop-down box, specify a maximum file size limit in Bytes.
- Click on OK.
Note: The default archive format in 7-Zip File Manager is .7z which is NOT supported by Google Drive for previewing. It is recommended that you only select a supported file format.
Rename Splitted Files into Your Own Naming Scheme (Recommended)
Typically, when you split a large file into multiple parts, the Web extension/ application uses its own file naming scheme. You can rename your splitted files into your desired file naming scheme using a fully Web-based tool Cloud File Renamer. This will help you organize these small files in a better way and find them when you need them the most.
Cloud File Renamer Features:
- Automatically rename Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox, Box, Amazon S3 files
- Dozens of file naming rules (schemes) to choose from: New Name, Remove Text, Replace Text, Trim Text, Prefix, Suffix, Numbering, Swap, Insert At, LowerCase and UpperCase
- Your connection to the server is encrypted with 256-bit AES algorithm and access to your files is revocable at any time
- Uses official APIs from your cloud service provider to protect your privacy
Solution 2: Remove EXIF Data
When you upload a large file on Google Drive, your file contains metadata information in the file header — separated from the actual content/ media. You can strip out such information to reduce the size of your file.
For Image Files:
To remove metadata from your images, download the EXIF Purge tool. To use this tool, click on the “Select Images” button, and choose the images to remove metadata. Specify a destination folder in the “Save images in” textbox and then click on the “Purge Exif Info” button. That’s it, it’s that simple.
For .MP3 Files:
To remove metadata from .MP3 files, you may use the Easy File Renamer tool. Click on the “Music Fixer” header and add your .MP3 files. Select all the files and then click on the “Bulk Tag Editor” button. Remove values from all the fields such as Title, Artist, Album, Year, etc. and then save your changes. Finally, click on “Rename”.
For .PDF Files:
To remove metadata from PDF documents, download Adobe Acrobat and open your PDF Document. Click on File > Properties. Click on “Additional Metadata”. Remove all the values from the text boxes and then click on OK. Click on File > Save As… and specify a new name for your file.