I tried Google Drive's new AI cleanup tool to fix 14 years of storage clutter - here's the result

As a longtime user of Google Workspace apps and a heavy subscriber to various tech services, I've accumulated a staggering amount of data across multiple platforms. My Google Drive account, in particular, has become a dumping ground for 14 years' worth of files, including Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Gmail messages. With 340GB of data stored, I'm paying $20 a month for Google AI Pro, which gives me 5TB of storage and access to Gemini AI.

But with the recent launch of Google's 'Organize My Files' feature, I had hopes that Gemini could help me declutter and simplify my Drive. The feature, available to Google Workspace and Google AI subscribers, uses Gemini AI to suggest moving loose files in Drive into existing folders or creating new folders for related files. After logging into my Google account and opening Google Drive, I clicked 'My Drive' and looked for the 'Suggest File Moves' button.

Clicking it opened a new 'Organize My Files' window, where Gemini began analyzing my files and suggesting ways to clean them up. After a minute or so, Gemini served up 19 recommendations to review. While some suggestions made sense, such as moving my resume and family members' resumes into an existing folder, others were less accurate.

For instance, Gemini suggested creating a new 'Travel Planning' folder for upcoming trip itineraries, but also grouped a file called 'Delete' under that category, which I actually wanted to delete. Despite this, I approved the changes Gemini recommended. However, when I ran the tool again, it suggested the same file moves, new folders, and changes it had just made.

This felt half-baked, and not at all the sweeping cleanup assistant for Drive that I was hoping for. With hundreds of gigabytes of data and years of clutter sitting in Google Drive, I was disappointed that the tool didn't do more to help me prioritize older files, recognize obvious trash, and surface deeper organization suggestions. For now, it seems I'm still stuck with a messy Drive and a $20 AI Pro subscription.

While I appreciate the effort, I hope Google will improve the 'Organize My Files' feature over time to make it a more effective tool for users like me.