While Google Drive is basically Google’s cloud storage, it doesn’t function the same way as other cloud storage services like Dropbox. For example if you wanted to share a file on Dropbox via email, you could either send the other person a link, or you could open up Dropbox from your computer and attach the file like you would a normal file.
With Google Drive, users were basically forced to share links which can be a little inconvenient and inefficient. Well the good news is that it looks like Google has decided to do something about that. In the latest update to Gmail, Google has added support for attaching files stored in Google Drive like you would a normal email attachment.
However it should be noted that by default, a link to the Drive file will still be used, so users will need to click the “insert as attachment” option. The size limits are still applied to Drive files, so if the file is particularly huge then sending the Drive link will still be a better option. For those who save a lot of their files on Drive, this will be a more efficient way of sharing.
The update should have been applied to the web interface of Gmail, so you can go ahead and take it for a spin now if you want.