Chromebooks to ditch the “Tote” for a user-friendly “Quick Files” section in a future update

On Halloween day, Google moved the Productivity Launcher’s “Suggested Files” section out of the way and instead shoved it into the “Tote” found at the bottom-right of your Chromebook’s shelf. Many users were happy about this as the suggested files appeared in the launcher just above their recently opened apps and web apps – something that was often touted as a waste of space.

“Tote” is kind of a funny word though, isn’t it? I mean, I certainly like it, but as far as being user-friendly nomenclature, it’s not at the top of the list. However, it was clearly dubbed as such by the Silicon Valley tote-carrying employees where such a bag is commonly used. I can picture Google giving out free totes to all of their developers to carry their branded swag around the campus. This was a common practice when I worked closely with them around Chromebooks and it’s kind of funny.

Because it doesn’t clearly denote what the shelf container for recently snapped photos or downloaded images is used for, and because “Holding Space” was only its name during development, Google is changing it to something else.

In a future update and right now on ChromeOS Canary, enabling the Holding Space Refresh Flag transforms the “Tote” into a new “Quick files” section. Aside from the name, it’s also receiving a new icon that looks like a files app with a lightning bolt on it. Google says in the flag description that it’s hoping to better convey this section’s relationship with your laptop’s “Files” app. I’d say this is a step in the right direction, wouldn’t you?

Enable holding space refresh

Enables a refresh of holding space which better conveys the relationship with the Files app. – ChromeOS

#enable-holding-space-refresh

To be fair, the tote was a fun little name, and it made me feel more classy about using my Chromebook, but there’s no denying that this change will benefit the user experience. By shifting your suggested files into “Quick files”, having recently downloaded files there too and even images taken from your Pixel phone, I believe that most of us can agree there’s enough utility built in that we may start using this shelf feature again.

In recent memory, I have commonly defaulted to opening the Files app directly and locating what I need, but I’ll make a conscious effort to glance at this new section for convenience in the future. I’m always interested in understanding more about how you all use your Chromebooks. Let me know in the comments if you’ve become accustomed to clicking on the Tote or if you keep your Files app pinned to the shelf instead.