Tech Tip of the Week: Editing Mode for Office Files in Google Drive

Google is changing the default editing mode for Microsoft Office files in Google Drive on the web. When you double-click on an Office file, it will open directly in Office editing mode. In the next few weeks, you will see the new edit mode being rolled out. Here are the steps to add and edit Office files after the rollout: Add an Office File to Google Drive: 

1. On your computer, go to drive.google.com. 

2. At the top left, click New File upload.  

3. Choose the file you want to upload.  

Open an Office File in Google Docs, Sheets or Slides  

1. In Google Drive, double-click the Office file. This will open a preview of your file.  

2. At the top, click Open in Google Docs/Sheets/Slides. 

     If you don't see this option, click Open with Google Docs/Sheets/Slides. 

3. You can now edit, share, view version history, collaborate in real-time with others and more. Changes you make will be saved to the original Microsoft Office file.  

This change makes it quicker to open and start editing documents. You can directly edit, comment and collaborate on Office files using the familiar interface of Google Docs, Sheets and Slides, with changes automatically saved to the file in its existing Office format.  


If you have any questions regarding this change, contact Tim Weets.