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Sep 3, 2026 — 6:22 AM ET
- Chrome’s Gemini side panel is finally gaining the ability to upload files directly through the Add attachments menu.
- You can hand Gemini a document and ask it to summarize, explain, or find specific information without leaving Chrome.
- It’s a useful addition, but Google is surprisingly late to the party, as Microsoft Edge’s Copilot sidebar has supported file uploads for years.
Gemini has been steadily working its way into just about every corner of Google’s ecosystem. You can summon it across Google apps, use it on Android phones, and even have it sitting alongside whatever you’re doing in Chrome. But despite all of that integration, the Gemini side panel in Chrome has been missing a surprisingly basic feature: the ability to upload a file.
That finally appears to be changing. X user Leopeva64 spotted a new file upload option inside the Gemini side panel in Chrome, tucked under the Add attachments menu. I checked Chrome on my own laptop, and the option is showing up there as well.
It sounds like a small addition, but it could make Gemini in Chrome considerably more useful. Instead of relying only on the webpage you currently have open or typing everything into a prompt, you can now hand Gemini a file directly. Say you have a PDF sitting on your laptop and just want the important bits. You could attach it and ask Gemini to summarize it, pull out a specific detail, or explain a confusing section without leaving Chrome. This could turn the Gemini panel into something you might actually want to keep open while you work.
What’s surprising is how long Google took to get here. Microsoft Edge has offered file uploads through its Copilot sidebar for years, so Google is hardly breaking new ground here. Considering how aggressively Gemini has been woven into Chrome lately, attaching a local file feels like functionality that should have arrived much earlier.
Still, late is better than never. If you already use Gemini while browsing, being able to throw a document into the conversation without jumping between tabs or opening another Gemini window removes one more bit of friction, and that might be enough to make Chrome’s side panel genuinely useful more often.
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