How to Edit a Document Using Google Drive

Transcription

1 How to Edit a Document Using Google Drive *You can create/edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents within Google Drive. These instructions will be focusing on Google Drive Word documents but the steps are very similar to those of Google Drive Excel and PowerPoint. 1. Using your computer s Internet browser direct yourself to the Google Drive website: and type in your Google/Gmail account address and password in the correct text fields. Next, click the Sign in button. *Google Drive is connected to your Google+/Gmail account so you can access it directly from the Google website or through the Gmail website. 2. You will be directed to the Google Drive homepage. If you already have documents saved in your Google Drive account they will be displayed here. Let s start by creating a brand new Word document within the Google Docs program. Click the orange Create button located on the lefthand side of the page. Then click the Document option.

2 3. You will be brought to the Google Docs word document page. You will notice that the layout is very similar to that of the actual Microsoft Word and Open Office programs. There are a number of tabs that you can click on (File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Tools, Table, and Help) that will provide you with formatting options, assistance, etc. To give your document a proper name click the Untitled Document heading located in the top left-hand corner of the page. A window will appear asking you to type in your new file name. After creating a file name, click anywhere on the blank white document to start typing. 4. Just like in Microsoft Word or Open Office computer programs, Google Docs has a similar formatting menu bar. Use the options on this menu to change the alignment of your document content, bold, italicize, underline and change the size of your text, change your font, and so on. 5. To turn on the Spell Check tool click the View tab and then click the Show spelling suggestions option so that there is a small check mark beside it. This will make it so if you make any spelling mistakes they will become underlined with a squiggly red line.

3 Right-click on any words that have been spelled wrong to bring up a list of suggested spelling corrections. Click on the correction that you want to replace your misspelled word with and it will automatically do so for you. 6. If you would like to insert a picture that is saved onto your computer/usb drive then click the Insert tab and then click the Image option. You can also use this tab to insert links, page numbers, headers, footers, etc. 7. There isn t an actual Save button in Google Docs but that is because any typing/editing you do within the document is automatically saved. You will notice that once you have started typing or editing a little link will appear at

4 the top of the page that says All changes saved in Drive. This is how you know for certain that changes have been saved. You can even click on the link to provide you with the approx. time that the changes were saved. 8. If you d like to download your file onto your computer click the File tab and then click the Download as option. From the list that appears click what format you d like to save the file as (Microsoft Word document, Open Office document, Rich Text, PDF, etc.) A window should appear asking you if you d like to open the file in a program that best matches your selected format or if you d just like to save the downloaded file onto your computer. Choose whichever option you prefer and then click the Ok button. Even if you just choose to open it in a program you can still save it onto your computer through that program. *You can download Google documents onto your computer from the Google Drive homepage as well.

5 * Depending on what Internet browser you are using the document may download in different ways. For example, while using Google Chrome instead of having the above window appear, a small options bar may appear at the bottom of the Google Docs page asking you if you d like to open the file. There is no Save option as the file has already been automatically saved/stored in your computer s Downloads folder. Click Open to proceed with opening the file within your desired computer program. 9. If you d like to return to the Google Drive homepage at any time during your document editing move your mouse cursor over to the left of the document title. Click the black left-facing arrow that appears with the message Back to Google Drive. 10. You will be brought back to the Google Drive homepage. Notice that your newly created document is now listed on the page. If you ever want to access a Google Drive document that you have already created click on the title of it in the list. Doing so will bring you back to the document editing page. If you want to move a Google Drive document to a folder or delete it click the small box beside the document title to bring up more options for it. You will notice a Move to Folder and a Delete button have appeared above your list of documents. Click either of these depending on what you d like to do with your Google Drive document. You can also click the More button to bring up other options for your selected document.

6 Uploading an already existing file from your computer onto Google Drive: 1. If you ever want to upload a file that you have saved on your computer/usb drive to Google Drive, direct yourself to the Google Drive homepage. Click the orange Upload button located on the left-hand side of the page beside the Create button. Then from the menu click either Files or Folder (depending on if you d like to upload a single file or a folder containing multiple files). From the window that appears locate the file you d like to upload and then click Open. 2. An uploading window will appear in the lower right-hand corner of your screen. Once the upload is complete the file will appear in your list of Google Drive files.

7 3. Now, if you d like to edit the uploaded document within Google Docs click the small box beside it so a check mark appears. Click the More button that appears at the top of the list and then click the Open With option. If you just want to view the file then click the Google View option but if you d like to actually edit the document click the Google Docs option. Your selected uploaded file will now open in the Google Docs program for you to start editing. April 22, 2013