Google Docs
Frequently asked questions
View our frequently asked questions on Google Docs,
Can I save Google Docs, Sheets and Slides in other formats e.g. Word, Excel and PowerPoint?
You can use the File menu and Download As command to save a Google Doc, Sheet or Slide in another format, including PDF.
If I share a document, will I be notified when a change is made to the document?
In a spreadsheet, you can click on the Tools menu and choose Notification Rules to be notified when changes have been made to the sheet.
In Docs and Slides, you can view the revision history of the document to see all changes made to the document over time. In a document, view revision history by clicking on the File menu and choosing See Revision History.
If you are using the Comments feature to collaborate on a document, you can be notified of any new comments made to the document discussion.
Can I change the owner of a document I no longer need to access?
Yes, you can set any collaborator on the document as the new owner via the Share screen.
Can I remove a collaborator I have shared a document with?
Yes, but only if you are the owner of the document.
Can I choose the way in which my colleagues can access my files?
Yes, people you choose to share the document with can be given permission to edit or view the document, or to be able to add comments. Click on the Share button to change all sharing settings.
Can I share a document with people outside of my organisation?
Yes, as long as your administrator has enabled this setting, you can share a document with anyone, regardless of whether they have a Gmail account or not.
The Search box doesn’t seem to find documents that have been shared with me. How can I access them via Search?
In the Shared with me folder, right-click over the shared file and choose Add to My Drive.
What happens if I delete a file that’s been shared with me?
If you delete a document from your Drive that was shared with you, the document won’t be deleted but will simply be removed from your Drive view. You can restore the document by finding it in the Shared with me folder and adding it to your My Drive again.
Which features from Word will be lost when converting a document to Google Docs?
Features to note:
Some character formatting will not convert correctly e.g. double underlining, word underlining and all caps
Newspaper columns will show as a single column
Merged cells in tables will show as non-merged
Decimal tabs will be lost
Bookmarks will not be converted, but links to bookmarks will be retained
Cross references will be lost
Most fields will be converted to static values in Google Docs
First page and odd/even headers and footers will be lost
Picture bullets will be converted to standard bullets
SmartArt diagrams and charts will be converted to static images
Text boxes will be converted to static images and some formatting may be lost
Watermarks will be lost
Is there a size limit for creating Google Docs?
Documents can contain up to 1.02 million characters, regardless of the number of pages or font size. If you convert a text document to Google Docs format, it can be up to 50 MB in size.