Lesson 1: What You Have: Plans, IT Controls and This Course

Why This Lesson Comes First

Google Drive does not look the same for everyone. What you can do depends on three things:

1. Your account type: personal, small business or corporate.
2. Your plan: the subscription attached to that account.
3. Your IT team's settings: in a managed account, an administrator can switch features off.

In this lesson you build a one-page Plan Record. You will use it for the rest of the course. Whenever a later lesson says a feature "depends on the plan", check your record before you start.

About this course: LevelUpWith wrote this course on its own. Google does not run it, check it or endorse it. It does not reproduce Google's documentation. It points you to Google's own pages, which are the authority on how the product works. Google changes plans, prices, AI features and screens often, so every plan detail below is dated 2 November 2026.

Task 1: Identify Your Account Type

DO: Open a blank document called Plan Record and type today's date at the top.

1. Look at the email address you use for Drive.
2. Match it to one of these types:
   • Personal (consumer): the address ends in @gmail.com. No administrator manages it. You control every setting yourself.
   • Small business: a company address on a Google Workspace Business plan (Starter, Standard or Plus). Business plans are capped at 300 users. One person, often a founder or office manager, acts as the administrator.
   • Corporate: a company address on an Enterprise plan or another managed edition. A dedicated IT team usually runs it.
3. Find your plan name:
   • Personal: go to one.google.com and read the plan shown there, for example the free 15 GB tier, Basic, Google AI Plus or Google AI Pro. Plan names and line-ups vary by country.
   • Work account: only an administrator can see the edition, in the Admin console under Billing > Subscriptions. If you are not an admin, ask the person who manages your accounts.
4. Record the account type, the plan name and today's date.

Example: A freelance designer writes "Personal, Google AI Pro, 2 Nov 2026". A start-up developer writes "Small business, Business Standard (confirmed by ops lead), 2 Nov 2026".

Task 2: Check Which Drive and Gemini Features You Have

The gap between plans matters most for Gemini. As of 2 November 2026, Google's own plan pages showed:

• Business Starter: Gemini in Gmail and the standalone Gemini app. Gemini in Drive was not listed.
• Business Standard and Plus: Gemini in Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, Meet and Chat.
• Enterprise: all of the above, plus extra Drive features such as AI classification. Prices are quoted by Google's sales team.
• Personal plans: Gemini in Drive needs an eligible Google AI plan. On the UK plans page, Google AI Pro listed Gemini in Gmail, Docs and more, while Google AI Plus listed Gemini in Gmail only. The free and Basic tiers listed no Gemini in Drive.
• Shared drives: available on Business Starter since September 2024, though with fewer admin controls than higher plans. Personal accounts cannot create shared drives.

DO:

1. Open Google's current Workspace pricing page (business accounts) or the Google One plans page (personal accounts).
2. Find your plan's column.
3. In your Plan Record, sort features into three lists:
   • Have: listed for your plan and visible in your Drive.
   • Preview: marked Beta, preview or Labs. For example, Drive projects need access to Gemini Beta, which Google limited to work and school accounts.
   • Unconfirmed: listed somewhere but not visible to you yet, or not clearly stated for your plan.
4. Test it: open drive.google.com and look for Ask Gemini at the top right. Note whether it is there.

Task 3: List What Your IT Team Has Switched Off

If you use a work account, your plan sets the maximum and your administrator decides what you actually get. For example:

• Gemini features in Workspace apps are on by default, but an admin can turn them off for everyone or for chosen groups.
• An admin can stop users from creating shared drives.
• Admin changes can take up to 24 hours to reach you.

DO:

1. Compare your Have list with what you can see in Drive. Anything your plan includes that is missing may be switched off.
2. List each missing feature.
3. Name who to ask. Google cannot tell you who your administrator is, because that person works for your organisation. Try your IT helpdesk, your manager or whoever set up your account.
4. Personal account users write "No administrator: I control my settings".

Task 4: Record Your Current Price

Prices depend on your country, currency, billing cycle (yearly or monthly) and any promotional offers. Use Google's own page for your region, not a blog or reseller list.

DO:

1. Open the current Google pricing page for your plan.
2. Record the price, the currency, the billing cycle and today's date.
3. If you have a Gemini add-on or an AI plan, record its price on its own line.
4. Mark any line showing a temporary discount, preview or "contact sales" as promotional, preview or unconfirmed.
5. If your employer pays, write "Paid by organisation" and ask your administrator only if you need the figure.

Your Task on Your Own Work

Finish your Plan Record with five headings: Account type and plan, Features I have, Preview / unconfirmed, Switched off and who to ask, and Price (dated). Save it in Drive. You will use it in every lesson that follows.

Key Takeaways

• Your account type, your plan and your IT settings together decide what you can do in Drive.
• An @gmail.com account has no administrator. Only an admin can see a work account's edition.
• Gemini in Drive is not on every plan. Business Starter and the cheaper personal tiers did not list it on 2 November 2026.
• On a work account, an administrator can turn off Gemini and shared drive creation even when your plan includes them.
• Always date plan, price and AI details, and mark anything shown as preview or unconfirmed.
• This course is independent of Google. Google's current pages are the authority.