Introduction to Google Drive and Google Docs

Transcription

1 Introduction to Google Drive and Google Docs Metropolitan Community College Continuing Education Laurie Brodeur - Instructor Web Page What are Google Drive and Google Docs? Google Drive is a free product from Google that's actually two products in one. The first product is Google Drive. It's your own hard drive that follows you everywhere you have internet access. You get 15 gigabytes of space for free, but you can purchase more storage if you need to. The second product that you also get for free when you access Google Drive is Google Docs. Google Docs is a suite of software apps similar to Microsoft Office : Google Docs - a word processing app, Google Sheets - a spreadsheet application Google Slides - create presentations Google Drawings - create flow charts and simple drawings to use in your Docs Google Drive and Google Docs are designed to work together. Any Google Docs you create, which are stored on your Drive, do not count against your storage limit Your existing Microsoft Word documents that you have stored on Google Drive can be converted into Google Doc format, saving you room on your Drive. Introduction to Google Driven and Google Docs September 2015 Laurie Brodeur Page 1

2 Who can use Google Docs? Anyone with a Google account. Anyone can create a free Google account. Your free Google account gives you access to many Google products: Gmail Google Calendar YouTube Google Drive Google Docs Accessing Google Drive You can sign in to your free Google account at any Google product screen, or the Google.com main search page. From any Google products screen, you can click on the grid thumbnail icon and select Google Drive as an app. You can point your browser directly to drive.google.com. This brings you to the main Google Drive screen. A Word about the Interface Google changes its interface quite a few times over the course of a year. Your experiences with how Google Drive looks and acts also depends on what browser you use, and how long you've been using Google Drive. You can keep up with and learn about new Google Drive features by visiting the official blog at googledrive.blogspot.com. Introduction to Google Driven and Google Docs September 2015 Laurie Brodeur Page 2

3 The Google Drive Window Introduction to Google Driven and Google Docs September 2015 Laurie Brodeur Page 3

4 Create a Google Doc Sign in to your Google account. At the left of the screen you will see the red New button. From the drop-down menu, choose Google Docs An untitled document will open. To use Template options Repeat the steps above Click the blue-striped button in the top left-hand corner. Notice you can start a new Blank document or choose from the many templates available. Click here to view other templates. Introduction to Google Driven and Google Docs September 2015 Laurie Brodeur Page 4

5 The Google Docs Window Top right corner icons: When a file is selected, this set of Tools will appear at the top of the window: Introduction to Google Driven and Google Docs September 2015 Laurie Brodeur Page 5

6 Google Docs File Formats Google Docs contains its own format for word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations. A Google Doc file will have the small blue Google Doc symbol. A Microsoft Office document that can be converted to Google Docs, will have the file extension.docx or.doc Note: Word files can be automatically converted to Google Docs: o Click on the Settings gear o Choose Settings o Check the box for Convert uploads Introduction to Google Driven and Google Docs September 2015 Laurie Brodeur Page 6

7 Uploading Files Click the red New button on the left and select File upload. Browse your computer's file system to select the files that you want to upload. Click Open, and your files will begin to upload. You can see the status on bottom right hand side. Your files will then appear directly in your Google Drive. More about Uploading Files Uploading speed will depend on the size of the file that you'll uploading, and the speed of your internet connection. You can upload files up to five terabytes, which won't matter unless you purchase that much storage space anyway. If you plan on converting a Word document to a Google doc format, it can't be larger than 50 megabytes. Creating Folders From the Main Drive window, Click New, and select "Folder. Give the folder a name. Click the blue Create button, and the folder is created and will go directly into your Google Drive. Introduction to Google Driven and Google Docs September 2015 Laurie Brodeur Page 7

8 Moving Files to Folders 3 options To drag a file into a folder, select it, and drag it directly into the folder. Hover your mouse over My Drive on the left side of the window. A list of your folders will appear. Drag your file to the desired folder. Click to view your folder in Grid View and drag the file into the folder. Google Desktop App The downloaded app puts a folder on your computer that works just like any another folder on your computer. It keeps that folder in sync with your Google Drive in the Cloud. When you can save a file directly into the folder it will also be available on your phone, tablet, or through a web browser anywhere. It also means that you can make a change to a file anywhere, and that change will be synced right back down to your computer. Converting Files Upload your Word document to your Google Drive. (Under the red New button.) Select (click) on the Word document. Click the Preview Eye to see the document. In the Preview window, press on the triangle by Open at the top of the window, and choose Google Docs. If Google Docs is not a choice, your document cannot be converted. When you convert a file to Google Docs format, your original file will remain intact in your drive still. It's up to you to decide if you want to keep it once it's been converted or delete it. Introduction to Google Driven and Google Docs September 2015 Laurie Brodeur Page 8

9 Remember, Google docs don't count against your storage limit in your Google Drive. Unfortunately, some documents/files cannot successfully be converted into Google Doc format. Formatting issues, borders, alignment can be affected. Trying it is the only way to know. Downloading Google Docs Select the Google Doc file you want to download to your computer, or say a USB drive. Right click on the file, choose Download. Navigate to where you want the file saved. Your file will be saved in Microsoft Office format. Alternatively A file can be downloaded by using the File menu. Open the file to be downloaded. Under the File menu, hover over Download as to see options. Downloading as a PDF is fantastic if you want to make sure that nobody can alter your Doc file once you've downloaded it. Introduction to Google Driven and Google Docs September 2015 Laurie Brodeur Page 9

10 Printing Google Docs Printing Google Docs and files from Google Drive works in a similar manner. With your file open, under the File menu click Print. You can choose to print to your local printer. If you aren't at home, you can always download the file as a PDF file, and print it on whatever local printer is attached to that computer. Deleting and Retrieving Files Select the file to delete and either o click the trashcan icon on the top icon bar, or o right-click the file and choose Remove." The file will be sent to your trash. You can instantly bring it back by clicking "undo" in the small notification that will appear somewhere in the window depending on the browser or version update you are using. Viewing Files in the Trash Click on Trash at the left of the window. The deleted files will show. Right-clicking on the file name will give you the choice of o Restoring the file o Deleting it forever. Introduction to Google Driven and Google Docs September 2015 Laurie Brodeur Page 10

11 Storage Space Google Drive gives you 15 gigabytes of free space. Remember that Google Docs don't take up any of that allotted space, the rest is yours to use for things like photos and unconverted office files. Photos and music files take up lots of space very quickly. Should you want more storage, click in the bottom left-hand corner, click Buy More Storage. Find out what's taking up so much space on your Google Drive by hovering your mouse over the quota limits on the bottom left-hand side of your screen. Click on the word Drive to see a special view where your items are sorted by how much space they take up. You can then decide to prioritize/delete files that are taking up too much of your storage space. Sharing Google Docs If you're on the road or have access to a friend or public computer, you can log on, access, edit, or download your files from any browser so you'll have access to them wherever you are. Files can be shared with other people to only view or to edit simultaneously with other users. Those users must have a Google account. Introduction to Google Driven and Google Docs September 2015 Laurie Brodeur Page 11

12 Google Docs can be shared as simple webpages for viewing for those not having a Google account. Sharing Google Docs (continued) Select the file to share. The following tools will appear at the top of the window. Click on the Link button. Click Sharing Settings The Dialog Box below will open providing you with choices as shown by each arrow. The image on the next page will show you the options for the Advanced option. NOTE: These settings can also be reached by clicking the Share icon. Introduction to Google Driven and Google Docs September 2015 Laurie Brodeur Page 12

13 Advanced Sharing Settings Introduction to Google Driven and Google Docs September 2015 Laurie Brodeur Page 13