Convert MS Office Files to Google Docs

This lesson shows how to configure Google Drive to automatically convert MS Office documents (Word, Excel, and Powerpoint) to Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files.

Saving Files to Google Drive

So, what about files that you have created outside of Google Drive? These can also be uploaded to Google Drive similar to using Dropbox or other file sync and storage tools. Every student has a 10TB+ Google Drive account, so there is an unlimited amount of storage available and almost any file type can be saved. Think of Google Drive as an extremely large, cloud-based USB drive.

There are two ways to save files to Google Drive:

  1. Use the "Upload" button, or
  2. Drag and drop files onto the Google Drive page in your browser.

Set your Upload Settings

Before you begin uploading documents to Google Drive, confirm your Upload settings. To do this go to the "Gear" icon (1) and select "Settings" (2)

Enable File Upload Conversion and Sync

Next tick the "Convert uploads" button to automatically convert Word files to Google Docs, Powerpoints to Google Sheets, etc. If you only intend to use Google Drive for storage (like Dropbox) don't tick this option, but be aware that you do lose some of the advantages of Google Drive such as continuous saves and editing of files on any device.