Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Day 20 - Converting an Existing File to a Google Document, Spreadsheet or Presentation

Over the past two days, we have reviewed how to upload files to your Google Drive and how to setup your Drive so that it will always prompt you about converting files when you upload them. However, there may be some situations in which you want to convert a file into a Google Document, Spreadsheet or Presentation that has already been uploaded to your Drive.

Fortunately, there is an easy way to convert files that are already in your Google Drive into one of the Google formats, allowing you to edit, collaborate and share. Here's how:
  1. Select a file in your Google Drive by checking the box to the left of its name
  2. Click the "More" button that appears at the top of the Drive list
  3. Select "Open with" from the menu and click "Google Docs" (or Google Sheets or Google Slides)
  4. After a few moments, the files will be converted into an editable Google Document, Spreadsheet or Presentation
  5. You will now have two versions of the file in your Drive;
    • You will have the original, unconverted file that you can download in its original format
    • You will have an editable and shareable Google Document, Spreadsheet or Presentation


You can find more information about converting files to Google Documents, Spreadsheets and Presentations in the official Google Drive Help documentation at https://support.google.com/drive/answer/2407404?hl=en.

If you run into any issues when trying to convert a file, here is some information about the size limits, as well as other limitations, https://support.google.com/drive/answer/37603.

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