Uploading Files and Organizing Folders

Getting files into StretchDrive and keeping them organized are the two things you'll do most. This guide covers uploading, creating folders, and renaming or moving items.

Uploading files

There are two ways to upload:

Drag and drop. Drag one or more files from your computer onto the Drive area. They upload into whichever folder you currently have open.
Upload button. Click Upload file (in the empty state) or + New → Upload, then choose files from the picker.

While a file transfers you'll see progress. StretchDrive checks the integrity of every upload end to end using a checksum, so the stored file is guaranteed to match what you sent. When the upload completes, the file appears in the current folder and your Storage meter updates.

Size limits. A single file can be up to 5 GB. Larger files upload in chunks automatically and can resume if your connection drops — see Uploading Large Files and Resumable Uploads.

Creating folders

Open the folder you want the new folder to live inside (or stay at My Drive for a top-level folder).
Click + New, then New folder.
Enter a name and confirm.

Folder and file names can be up to 255 characters but cannot contain slashes (/ or \) or be just . or .., because those are reserved for internal paths. Folders can be nested freely, so you can build a structure that mirrors how your team works — for example Clients → Acme Corp → 2026 → Invoices.

Renaming items

Select the file or folder.
Choose Rename.
Type the new name and confirm.

Renaming a folder automatically updates the internal path of everything inside it, so nothing breaks.

Moving items

You can reorganize by moving files and folders:

Select the item and choose Move (or drag it onto a destination folder).
Pick the target folder and confirm.

StretchDrive prevents impossible moves: you can't move a folder into itself or into one of its own subfolders. If you attempt it, you'll get a clear "cannot be moved inside its own descendant" message. Moving a folder brings all of its contents along and keeps their paths correct.

Uploading a new version instead of a duplicate

If you upload a file to replace an existing one, StretchDrive keeps the older copy as a version rather than overwriting it permanently. This means you can always roll back. See Previewing Files and Managing Versions for how version history works.

A realistic example

Your marketing team is running a Q3 campaign. You create a top-level folder Campaigns, then inside it Q3 2026. Within that you add Creative, Copy, and Reports. You drag the finished ad images into Creative, upload the messaging document into Copy, and drop the weekly performance export into Reports. Two weeks later the design lead sends updated images; you upload them over the originals, and Drive keeps the first versions in history in case you need them. When the campaign wraps, you move the entire Q3 2026 folder under an Archive folder in one action — every file moves with it.

Tips

Open the destination folder before uploading so files land in the right place immediately.
Drop multiple files at once — you don't have to upload them one by one.
Use a consistent naming convention (e.g. YYYY-MM-DD-description) so sorting by name is meaningful.
Build your folder skeleton at the start of a project to avoid a cleanup later.
To replace a file, upload the new copy in place so you keep version history rather than creating a duplicate.

Troubleshooting

"Drive names cannot contain path separators." Remove any / or \ from the name.

Upload fails near the end on a large file. The connection likely dropped. StretchDrive supports resuming — retry the upload and it continues from where it left off. See the resumable uploads guide.

"Drive quota would be exceeded." Your organization has hit its storage limit. Free space by permanently deleting items from Trash, or ask an owner about upgrading the plan.

I can't upload into a folder. You need at least Editor access to that folder. If someone shared it with you as a Viewer, you can see it but not add to it.