What's New in Zoho WorkDrive?

When you directly share with external users who don't have a Zoho account, they can access the shared files and folders after verifying their email address via OTP authentication. This ensures secured access for any external users.

Previously, non-Zoho users were able to only edit non-native files via version upload. Now, these users can edit Zoho Office Suite files in the respective editors (Writer, Sheet, and Show), and add comments inside these files.

Note: Non-Zoho users currently cannot create new office suite files, convert non-native files to Zoho format files (Writer, Sheet, Show), or be @mentioned in comments.

Learn more about editing the externally shared files

Locating files created by specific team members is now easier with the new Created by User filter in WorkDrive's search interface. Whether you’re looking in Team Folders, My Folders, or shared folders, simply select the creator's name to quickly find the files you need.

Managing numerous file versions can be challenging, especially when storage is a concern. WorkDrive now lets you delete multiple file versions in bulk, helping you streamline your project files. Choose to retain only the latest 5, 10, 15, or 20 versions, or set your own limit, and free up storage space while keeping only the versions you need.

Learn more about bulk version deletion in WorkDrive

India's rich linguistic diversity is now fully accommodated by WorkDrive. No matter which region you're from or which language you speak, WorkDrive is here to support your collaboration and document management needs.

We have expanded our language support to include all 22 official Indian languages. This means that you can now access and interact with WorkDrive in your preferred Indian language for a more convenient and user-friendly experience.

Learn more about the supported languages in WorkDrive

Our latest enhancements help make search more efficient and provide a smooth user experience:

• Streamlined search: We've enabled quick search options to help you find files in your My Folder, Team Folder, Org Folder, and any other specific subfolder.
• Save search: You can now save search keywords along with the applied filters, making the process of generating future search results effortless.
• Recent search listings: Your recent searches are now at your fingertips within the search UI. Quickly access them to find the information you need.

Learn more about the WorkDrive smart search feature

We have enhanced video and audio previews by adding sneak forward (Shift+Right arrow) and sneak backward (Shift+Left arrow) options. We have also introduced shortcut options for muting/unmuting (M), entering/exiting full-screen mode (F), and playing/pausing your content (space bar).

Additionally, we have introduced picture-in-picture (PIP) support for video files.

Learn more about keyboard shortcuts in WorkDrive

WorkDrive makes the process of uploading large files smoother and more reliable by dividing them into smaller segments or chunks. This improvement enables users to seamlessly upload larger files and resume uploads after interruptions, even when the internet connection is unreliable.

Additionally, we have increased the file upload limits across our plans to cater to the needs of users working on large project files. The new limits are as follows:

• Starter Plan: Users can now upload single files up to 10 GB in size
• Team Plan: Users can now upload single files up to 50 GB in size
• Business Plan: Users can now upload single files up to 250 GB in size
• Zoho One Bundle (WorkDrive): Users can upload single files up to 250 GB in size
• Zoho Workplace Bundle (WorkDrive): Users can upload single files up to 10 GB in size

Note: Currently, these enhancements are available on the WorkDrive web platform, WorkDrive Mobile, and WorkDrive TrueSync application.

Learn more about uploading larger files in chunks in WorkDrive

To improve the user experience, we've introduced a search bar in both the Embedded view and External Share view. Now, users can quickly find and access their files from these views. We have also enhanced the search functionality. Searched terms are now highlighted in the search suggestion UI and on the Searched File listing page.

Learn more about searching for files and folders in WorkDrive

To enrich your recording experience, we've introduced a few enhancements in WorkDrive Snap. We've redesigned the user interface and improved the screen and video recording functions. 

Common enhancements:

• While recording screens or videos, you can mute and unmute the microphone and enable and disable the camera.

Video recording enhancements:

• We've provided maximize and minimize options while recording a video.
• You can now change the resolution of the video you record according to your preference: 1080p, 720p (default), and 480p.

Screen recording enhancements:

• We've provided a picture-in-picture option while you record an entire screen for the Chrome browser.

Learn more about the recording options in WorkDrive

External users (users who don't have a WorkDrive account) will now be able to add or upload files (including version upload), comment, rename, and download files and folders, provided they have the required permissions.

Note: External users need to sign up for a WorkDrive account to access advanced collaboration features.

Learn more

Are you sure the items you share externally can only be accessed by your intended recipient?

WorkDrive has added an extra layer of security for sharing files with external users (users who don't have a Zoho account) by requiring email address verification. External users must verify their email addresses via OTP authentication to access shared files and folders.

Learn more

We have improved the Comments feature in WorkDrive by providing the Edit option. This allows users to modify comments at any time without deleting them.

Note: Only the owner of a comment can make changes to it.

Learn more about managing comments

You can now choose to list Team Folders in the left panel based on the integrated apps where they were created. This option will only be available for teams contextually integrated with other Zoho apps.

Note: Currently, WorkDrive only supports contextual integration with Zoho Projects and Zoho Marketing Plus.

Learn more

Make your WorkDrive account more personal by selecting a theme and font style. Under My Preferences, you'll have the left panel themes, colors, and multiple font styles for your WorkDrive account.

Learn more about general preferences in WorkDrive

Are you tired of searching through a long list to locate your files and folders in WorkDrive?

The new tree-based navigation option in WorkDrive makes it easier to access folders in Team Folders or My Folders based on hierarchy (The parent folder will be listed first, followed by its subfolders). This way, you can quickly access the files inside your parent folders and their subfolders.

Team admins can now add extra security to external share links created by their team with the settings below:

Enforce passwords for external share links

Team admins can mandate users to set passwords for all external share links. They can also set a strong password policy for extra security.

Learn more about enforcing passwords
 

Set a default expiration period for external links

Team admins can set a default expiration period for all external share links and download links to restrict unwanted access. If set, the default expiration period will be applied automatically, and users can choose to manually change or disable the expiration date as needed.

Learn more about setting a default expiration period

Notifications help you stay up to date with your team on any task or project. With WorkDrive, you can choose both your notifications and the platform where you'll receive them (web, mobile, or email).

Learn more about notification preferences

We have improved the comments feature in WorkDrive by providing Reply, Resolve, Reopen, and Copy Link options.

Learn more about our comment enhancements

Data templates and custom fields help you categorize and manage a large number of files easily. Now, users can mandate data template association to a folder to streamline file management across the entire organization.

Whenever a file or folder is added to a given folder, a data template will be associated automatically and users will get a pop-up prompt to add custom properties. Once data templates and custom properties are added to files and folders, it's easy for any user on the team to search for data using data templates filter and custom field criteria.

Learn how to mandate data template association to a folder

WorkDrive lets you collect files securely with links from both internal and external users. We have added the following enhancements to this feature.

Separate folder for each user

We have provided an option to create a separate folder for each user to store their files. Without this option, files uploaded by all users are stored in a single common folder.

• For an internal collection link, the uploader's name will be the default folder name.
• For an external collection link, the uploader's name will be the default folder name. You can also choose the uploader's email address or phone number as the folder name if you've enabled those options in the request user data field.
   

Export collection reports

You can now export collection submissions as a report in .xlsx format. The report will be saved to My Folders/Activities.

When you click view submissions, a new screen will open for the collection. You can view the list of users who have submitted, their details, and their uploaded files. Click export next to the open folder button to export the collection report.

Learn more about Collect Files enhancements

We have created a new view for team folders in WorkDrive. This will help you easily access Team Folders—Team Folders you're part of, Team Folders you can join, and Team Folders you have pinned.

We have also added Team Folder listing preferences in the left panel. From My Preferences, you can choose from the following:

• Show all Team Folders
• Show only pinned Team Folders
• Don't show any Team Folders

When you have numerous templates for various purposes, they can be difficult to locate and organize. With our new category support for Templates, you can create easy-to-manage groups for templates in your My Templates and Org Templates galleries. 

Learn how to create and manage template categories

Avoid manually searching through a long list of your templates. Use the built-in search bar for My Templates and Org Templates. Quickly locate your templates by name, author, or keyword. 
 
Learn how to search for a template

With the "templates" filter in global search, you can quickly locate templates in My Templates and Org Templates.

Learn more about finding your templates in global search.

You can now view more items in a folder with compact view mode.

To enable compact view, click the view icon at the top-right corner of your folder, and select Compact.

To apply compact view as your default, select Profile > My Preferences > User Settings > Default View > Compact.

Preview enhancements for PDFs

• Preview different sizes, zoom in and out, and fit your document to the screen.
• Instantly jump to any page using the page number field.

Preview enhancements for images

• Zoom in and out on images, fit to screen, or view original images using the preview options.

Zoho WorkDrive now supports generating previews and thumbnails for raw image file formats. The following raw image formats are supported:

dng, cr2, arw, nef, raf, rw2, orf, crw, nrw, raw, dcr, mrw, x3f, 3fr, cr3, pef, kdc, ppm, srf

Maximum file size - 250 MB
Maximum resolution - 50 MP (width*height)

Note: Previews for new uploads will be generated as soon as the files are uploaded, and previews for existing raw image files will be generated only on access.

Check all 220 different file formats that WorkDrive supports for preview.

WorkDrive now supports associating a Data Template to multiple files and folders at a time. You can add properties to all the selected items and update them later if required. Once you add the properties, you can easily search for files and folders using the Data Templates filter.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires Covered Entities and Business Associates to take certain measures to protect health information that can identify an individual. It also provides certain rights to individuals.

WorkDrive provides the following features or tools that can help users handling protected health information to be HIPAA compliant.

• Clearly defined user roles and permissions at team, team folder, and sub-folder levels.
• External share settings at team, team folder, and user levels.
• Data Retention Policy
• Team Activity Reports
• Device management
• WorkDrive app permissions
• Transferring file ownership when deleting a user
• Data Encryption in transit and at rest

Some features are only available in the WorkDrive's higher plans. Learn more about the available features in each WorkDrive plan here.

Learn more on HIPAA compliance with Zoho WorkDrive

Zoho WorkDrive is now available for all Workplace users, including those who subscribed before Zoho WorkDrive was introduced in the Workplace plan (i.e., for the users who have access to Zoho Docs).

Both Zoho Docs and WorkDrive will be available for some more months for Workplace users. Users can start exploring WorkDrive and its features for their team. We will be rolling out the migration tool in phases. This will help users to move their entire data from Zoho Docs to Zoho WorkDrive.

Read this announcement for more details

• In addition to Team Folders, users can now associate files and folders from My Folders and Shared with Me to the required data templates.
• Data Templates have been added as a separate section in the right panel for quick access, below the Info icon. Previously it was located inside the Info section.
• Associated Data Templates will be shown as a label in the file listing for quick access.

Learn more about Data Templates

Zoho WorkDrive now supports some advanced properties (metadata) for different file types. When you upload files from your desktop or from other cloud services with advanced file properties, you will be able to see them in WorkDrive.

Check the list of advanced properties supported for different file types here.

Team Admins can now enable or disable drafts at the team level. If enabled, any documents, spreadsheets, and presentations your team members create in Team Folders via Zoho Writer, Sheet, and Show will be first saved as Drafts. The files in the draft state will not be visible to other members until the owner marks them as ready.

WorkDrive now supports these 10 Indian languages for the web application:

• Assamese
• Bengali
• Gujarati
• Hindi
• Kannada
• Marathi
• Punjabi
• Tamil
• Telugu
• Urdu

With WorkDrive's Optical Character Recognition (OCR) feature, you can search for any text contained within images. English is the default OCR search language. In addition to that, Team Admins can now choose one more language from the Content Settings in Admin Console.

Now you can choose whether documents, spreadsheets, and presentations newly uploaded to My Folders should be automatically converted to the respective Zoho WorkDrive format (i.e., Writer, Sheet, or Show). Check the supported files for conversion in WorkDrive.

Team admins can now decide who can create private Team Folders in their team, whether Team admins only or anyone on the team.

Team admins can now allow or restrict anyone on the internet to download and print embedded files and folders from websites and blogs.

WorkDrive now supports the following features while previewing PDF files:

Thumbnails
Preview all pages in a PDF using thumbnails, and quickly jump to a required page. Page thumbnails are created automatically in the preview mode.

Bookmarks
Bookmarks that have been created in PDF files from other apps can now be viewed in WorkDrive. You cannot create new bookmarks in WorkDrive.

Find
Search for specific text within PDF files easily using the Find option.

WorkDrive now supports preview for .eml and .msg email file formats.

• In case there are any email attachments, attachments will only be listed for reference and cannot be viewed in WorkDrive.
• Inline attachments (images inside emails) also cannot be viewed.

You can now view thumbnails of pages, numbers, keynote, and sketch files in a WorkDrive folder when the folder's view is set to Thumbnail.

You will only be able to preview the first page of these file types.

Loop: Play audio/video on loop.

Copy URL at current time: Copy URL at audio/video's current time to share with others.

Playback speed: Choose a speed at which the audio/video should play. Available speeds: .25x, .5x, .75x, 1 (Normal), 1.25x, 1.5x, 1.75x, 2x 

Zoho WorkDrive now supports light and dark themes for preview.

To serve our users better, we have increased the storage limit for WorkDrive's Starter and Team plans, and the Professional plan in Zoho Workplace.

Starter plan

Previously, the Starter plan provided 100 GB/team for up to 10 users and an additional shared storage of 10 GB/new user after that.

Now, the Starter plan will offer 1 TB/team for up to 10 users and an additional shared storage of 100 GB/new user after that.

Team plan

Previously, the Team plan provided 1 TB/team for up to 10 users and an additional shared storage of 100 GB/new user after that.

Now, the Team plan will offer 3 TB/team for up to 10 users and an additional shared storage of 300 GB/new user after that.

Please refer to the WorkDrive pricing page for more details.

WorkDrive as part of the Zoho Workplace bundle

Previously in Workplace, the Professional plan provided a shared storage of 10 GB/user. Now, the Professional plan will offer a shared storage of 100 GB/user.

Please refer to the Workplace pricing page for more details.

Note: These changes will apply to both the existing and new WorkDrive users.

You can now share files and folders for anyone on the internet with the default permissions (view and download) without creating an external share link.

To share files and folders externally with default permissions:

1. Select a file or folder and click the share icon in the top Actions bar. A share dialog box will appear.

2. Click Change Visibility next to Permalink. By default, existing collaborators will be selected.

3. Click the dropdown next to existing collaborators and select Anyone on internet.

This will be the default external sharing option in WorkDrive.

Refer to these help articles for more details:

Share files and folders externally from a Team Folder

Share files and folders externally from My Folders

You can now create custom download links for folders (in addition to files) stored in a Team Folder or My Folders and share them with external users. You can set a download limit and expiration for each download link.

You can also create multiple custom download links for the same folder and share them with different user groups.

In addition to the previous 27 languages, WorkDrive web app and mobile apps now support these 3 new languages:

1. Thai (ไทย)
2. Indonesia (Bahasa Indonesia)
3. Malay (Bahasa Melayu)

View the list of all supported languages here.

The issue in previewing .docx, .xlsx and .pptx format files through the Files app have been fixed.

• You can share files in a Team Folder by using the Share permission. This enables collaborators to create, edit and share files inside the folder, and add comments to them. Learn More
   
• You can share folders in a Team Folder with Organize permission. This enables collaborators to create, edit, organize and share files inside the folder, and add comments to them. Learn More

You can now assign Edit access when you share folders with external users. When an external user is granted permission, they will only be able to edit Zoho's native format files (i.e., Writer, Sheet, and Show files) in the shared folder. 

External users with edit access do not need to have a Zoho account to edit these files.

WorkDrive is now included, along with Writer, Sheet, and Show, when users sign up for Zoho's Workplace bundle. 

For existing users, Zoho Docs will be replaced by WorkDrive. For new users, Zoho Docs will not be available.

• WorkDrive's Basic edition is mapped to Workplace's Standard plan
• WorkDrive's Starter edition is mapped to Workplace's Professional plan

You can upgrade your WorkDrive edition separately without upgrading your Workplace plan. Check the details of all editions of WorkDrive here.

Team Folder Admins can allow or restrict the option to download and print files in a Team Folder. When it is restricted, Team Folder members with the viewer role and other team members with view-only access will not be able to download and print files.

Note: When download is restricted in a Team Folder, users with viewer role and view-only access can't sync the Team Folder and its sub-folders, respectively, to their computer via the WorkDrive Desktop Sync app.

Zoho WorkDrive is now available in 27 languages for both web and mobile applications.

WorkDrive users can share their Zoho-format files created in Writer, Sheet, and Show with external users by creating external share links. External users can now be given VIEW or EDIT access to these shared files.

Admins and organizers of a Team Folder can now view and manage all their external share links in one place. They can hover over an external share link to copy the link, view stats, modify settings, and even delete the link.

Admins can now export the generated team activity report. All exported reports will be saved automatically to the Activities folder in My Folders. The report will be saved as a CSV (comma-separated values) file.

Deleting a Team Folder will erase all its files and folders, but you can now restore the deleted Team Folders from the Admin Console.

When you share a folder externally, you can give VIEW or UPLOAD access to external users. External users can preview, download, and upload files (maximum file upload size = 250 MB).

You can view a list of the external users who have accessed the file via the external share link, their number of views and downloads, and the date and time they last accessed the file.

The Super Admin of a team can now be changed directly from the Profile Settings in the Admin Console. The Super Admin is the user who creates the team. All important emails related to payment invoices and the account will be sent to the Super Admin.

If a member switches to a different team or leaves the organization, you can easily transfer ownership of all their files to another member before deleting their account.