Nobody enjoys reading 50-page reports or dense contracts, but Google just made it way easier. The company rolled out Google Drive Audio Overviews, a new feature that transforms text-heavy PDFs into conversational, podcast-style audio summaries. Think of it as having someone read you the highlights of that massive document while you’re commuting or doing dishes.
How Google Drive Audio Overviews work
Google Drive Audio Overviews use the same Gemini AI technology that powers NotebookLM’s popular audio features. With one click inside the Drive PDF viewer on the web, you can generate a 2 to 10 minute audio summary that captures the main points of industry reports, contracts, meeting transcripts, and other lengthy documents.
The feature automatically saves your audio file to a new “Audio overviews” folder in Drive, making it accessible from any device. This means you can start the summary on your laptop and finish listening on your phone during your commute.
Who gets access and why it matters
Right now, Google Drive Audio Overviews only support English-language PDFs and are available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Plus, Enterprise Standard, and Plus tiers, as well as Google One AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers.
The feature offers a more efficient way to consume information. Instead of carving out dedicated reading time, you can get the key details while multitasking. It’s especially useful for preparing before meetings or quickly getting up to speed on projects.
The conversational format also makes dense material less intimidating compared to staring at walls of text. Google has been steadily adding AI features across Workspace, and this one actually solves a real problem for busy professionals drowning in documents.
