When collaborating on files in Google Drive (Docs, Sheets, and Slides), it's easy to lose sight of who's working on specific parts of a project. With Google Drive, you can assign tasks to another collaborator on your team.

Fire up Google Drive and open a file you currently collaborate on with other people.

Fire up Google Drive and open a file that you collaborate on with others.

For this guide, we'll use a Google Docs file, but the process is virtually the same for either a Sheets or Slides file.

Highlight some text, an image, cells, or slides, and then click the Add a Comment icon, located on the right of the page. Alternatively, press Ctrl+Alt+M (Windows/Chrome OS) or Cmd+Option+M (macOS) to insert a comment using the keyboard shortcut.

Select a portion of the document and click on the Add Comment icon on the right of the page.

Related: How to Add Comments in Google Docs

To add a comment to an image, it needs to be aligned "In line." "Wrap Text" and "Break Text" disable the ability to add a comment.

Make sure the image is set to "In Line," otherwise you won't be able to add a comment.

Next, type a comment and include the collaborator's email address---with "+" or "@" in front of it---that you want to assign the task to. A checkbox will appear. Click the box next to "Assign To" and then click the "Assign" button.

Type the person's email, with a + or @ in front of it, click the box next to "Assign to..." and click "Assign."

Tasks that are assigned will show to the right of the page in the comments section and specify who they're assigned to. The collaborator will receive an email with a link to the document.

An assigned task will appear as a comment on the right side of the page.

To reassign a task, click on the comment and then click on the "Reply" text field in the comment.

To reassign a task to someone else, click the comment, and then click on the Reply text field.

Type a comment while including the other collaborator's email---with a "+" or "@" in front of it---and click the box next to "Reassign To" when the option appears. Click the "Reassign" button.

Just like before, type in the person's email, with a + or @ in front of it, click "Reassign to..." and then click "Reassign."

If you or the collaborator don't receive an email notifying you of an assigned item, you can still check whether you have any waiting for you. Head to Google Drive and any file that has an awaiting task will have a number (of tasks) beside it.

Files that have tasks awaiting you will show a number (how many tasks) beside the name of the document.