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Using Google Docs & Google Drive
Here are some basic tips for accessing and using Google Docs and Google Drive. Note that the instructions given
for using Google Docs are, as a generality, also applicable to Google Sheets and Slides as well.
If you need more information than what you find below, Google has an excellent collection of training
documents and cheat sheets for Docs at https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9282664?hl=en, and for
Drive at https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9282958?hl=en.
Getting to Google Docs and Google Drive:
Start by logging in to your STCC Gmail account.
Along the top of the Gmail interface, click the Google apps button:
From the popup menu that appears, you can navigate to a variety of apps. The most important ones for
our purposes are Docs and Drive, which are commonly called “Google Docs” and “Google Drive”
respectively.
o Docs is where you will create and edit documents, as well as
importing Microsoft Word documents.
o Drive is where you will save and store documents in the cloud.
o If you need to create a spreadsheet or import a Microsoft Excel
spreadsheet, use Sheets.
o If you need to create a presentation or import a Microsoft
PowerPoint document, use Slides.
Creating and opening Google Docs documents:
Google Docs: When you click on the Docs icon in the above popup menu, your browser will open a new
tab for the Google Docs web app.
o You can create a new document in the Start a new document section by clicking Blank, or by
selecting one of the pre-made templates. More templates can be found by clicking the Template
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gallery button.
o You can open an existing document by selecting one of the docs in the Recent documents
section, or by clicking the Open file picker icon on the right side.
Note: The Open file picker icon will take you to a miniature version of Google Drive, so
you’ll be able to see all of your documents stored there in this window.
Google Drive: When you click on the Drive icon in the above popup menu, your browser will open a new
tab for the Google Drive web app.
o You can create a new document by clicking the New button in the upper left corner of the
interface, then selecting Google Docs (or Google Sheets, or Google Slides, etc. depending on
your needs).
o You can open existing Docs documents – or any other files you’ve saved to Google Drive – by
selecting them in the Files interface.
o You can change the view in a variety of ways. We strongly suggest experimenting with the Drive
interface to get to know it…it will always return to the default view when you open it again.
Importing documents (Word & PDF):
Click the Open file picker icon in the Recent Documents section.
Click Upload at the top of the file picker window and drag the file you want to upload into the window
when prompted.
Word documents: When you upload a Word document in Google Docs, it will be converted
automatically and open.
PDF documents: When you upload a PDF in Google Docs, it will automatically open in Google’s PDF
reader mode, which is read only and cannot be edited.
o To make a PDF document editable, click the Open with Google Docs button at the top of the
interface.
This will automatically convert the PDF to a Google Doc and open it in a new tab for editing.
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Important Note: When you upload a document, you may lose some layout and formatting. This is
especially likely when uploading a PDF, so keep the original document handy in case you need to repair
its formatting and layout in Google Docs.
Saving a Google Doc:
Saving: Google Docs automatically saves changes to the document you’re working on in your Google
Drive, as you’re making the changes. There is no need to manually save, unless you want to create a new
revision while preserving an old version of the document.
o As long as you see or at the top of the Docs interface while
you’re typing, your document is saved. (Note: After a moment, the “Saved to Drive” text will
disappear, leaving just the checked cloud icon – that’s normal, and means the document is
saved.)
o To create a copy of a document – to save an older version, or for some other purpose – click the
File menu at the top of the Docs interface and select Make a copy.
This will prompt you to name the copy of the document and ask you where to save it in your
Google Drive. Click OK to continue, and it will open the new copy of the document in a new
browser tab.
Exporting, Sharing and Sending Google Docs:
Exporting: To export from Google Docs – to save a copy of the document to your computer – click on
the File menu at the top of the interface and select Download.
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You can then choose from a number of document formats to export the file as. The most important
ones are Microsoft Word (.docx) and PDF Document (.pdf). Once you select a format, you will be
prompted to choose a location to download it to on your computer.
o Note: When exporting, you may lose some formatting and layout. Be prepared to check your
exported document and make any changes that need to be made.
Sharing: There are several ways to share a document with someone else.
o Click the Share button in the upper right corner of the Docs interface.
You will be prompted to Share with people and groups by entering the names of other
Google Docs users. If they don’t show up by name, put in their STCC email address.
Those people will automatically be notified that the document has been shared with
them.
Alternately, you can click in the Get link section to switch to it, and then choose who can
view the document: Restricted (only people it has been shared with), Springfield
Technical Community College (anyone in the STCC group), or Anyone with the link. You
can then click Copy link and manually send the link to the person you want to share the
document with.
o You can also click on the File menu and click Share, which will take you to the same dialog.
Sending a document as an attachment: To send a document as an attachment in Email, click the File
menu and select Email to open the Email as attachment window.
o This process also converts the document from Google Docs to the format of your choice, by
clicking on PDF (the default choice) at the bottom of the Email as attachment window. We
