Key Points

  • Knowing how to convert a Google Doc into a Word Doc is useful if you are sending the file to a Microsoft user or if you want offline access, among other reasons. It is also useful to understand the process in reverse. You may need to covert a Word Doc to a Google Doc if you want to collaborate with several people on a project or work on the document across multiple devices. Start by downloading your document and selecting the appropriate ‘download as’ item from the dropdown menu.

Despite the advantages of Google Docs and cloud storage, there are times when you need an offline copy of your documents. A common workaround is to convert your Google Docs to Microsoft Word format. If you want to edit your Word documents on your Chromebook or Google Drive, you can also do the process in reverse. But that’s a topic for another day.

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How to Convert Google Doc to Word in Drive

Converting a document from Google Docs to MS.docx format is pretty simple. Here’s how to do so step-by-step:

1. Open Your Google Doc

Once you log in and access GoogleDocs, you will find a list of all your previous documents arranged chronologically depending on the dates accessed.

If you’d like to open a new document or template to work on, it’s also an option.

2. Download Your File as *.docx

Click on the File option at the top left corner of your Google Docs file. On the File menu, select the Download option and click on Microsoft Word (.docx).

3.Open the Downloaded Document

Typically, downloading the Googles Docs document takes seconds, depending on your download speed. Once downloaded, the document appears at the bottom left corner of your PC, and you only need to click on it to open.

4. Enable Editing

Once you open it as a MS Word document, enable editing at the middle top of your document to make any changes. You can readjust layouts, formatting, pagination, and do more.

Converting Multiple Google Documents into Word

If you want to convert a bunch of files (rather than one file) from Google Docs to Word, the steps below will be useful.

Open Google Drive homepage and highlight all of the Google Docs files you want to convert to .docx format.

Right-click on any one of the highlighted options and click on download.

The files will be compressed into a zip file and start downloading immediately. 

Go to your desktop and select downloads to access your files

It will be the first file usually saved as “drive-download-….”

You can access any of your downloaded documents from the compressed zip file or choose to extract them to Google Word.

To extract the files from the zip file, you’ll need to:

  • Left-click on Extract to access a menu with various options where you would like your documents saved.

  • Select Documents then press ok to begin the process.The documents will be available in your Microsoft Word in no time where you can access them offline.

How to Convert MS Word Document to Google Docs

You may also decide to convert every MS Word (docx.) into Google Docs once you upload it to Google Drive.

Click the Settings icon in the top right corner of Google Drive

Tick the “Convert uploaded files to Google Docs editor format” box, then select “Done.”

You can drag several MS word (.docx) files and drop them into your Drive to convert them into Google Docs.

Also, you may also click “New” then “File upload,” then hold Ctrl or Shift while batch-selecting documents on your Drive’s homepage.

Conclusion

Microsoft Word has commanded the word-processing world for years. Nonetheless, with outstanding new features and capabilities, Google Docs is poised to give it a run for its money and, more than likely, assume its place at the forefront.

MS Word is the most popular educational processor due to its user-friendly features.

Google Docs, on the other hand, is chosen by tech-savvy individuals who enjoy working online and demand constant access to their papers across many devices. It’s perfect for remote teams because it allows them to collaborate on projects easily.

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