Working with documents in the cloud is not something crazy today, on the contrary. And among the many alternatives we have, that of the Google documents is one of the most used. Do you know Google Docs?
If you do not know what it is, or you have not yet used it at its maximum power, then we are going to help you do it and discover one of the tools to use, especially if you are one of those who travel a lot or change computers and it is always loaded with pendrives, dvd's, cds and external disks.
What is Google docs, Google documents
Google Docs, also called Google Docs is actually a cross-platform; a tool that they offer you from Google and that can be used from your computer, a tablet, your smartphone ... It is designed so that you don't have to carry a lot of documents on pen drives, external drives and the like, but rather stays in the cloud. But it can also be easily downloaded.
This tool is fully compatible with different types of files, whether they are text documents, slides, spreadsheets ... In fact, the programs you will use are "clones" of the Office suite. And best of all, they are free. Thus, you will have Excel, Word, PowerPoint in a free version (and you will be able to open with these programs the documents that you have made with those others (and many other formats).
Why do Google docs work for me?
Imagine that you have to go on a business trip. It is possible that you take all the documents you need, but what if you forget one and you have no one to send it to you? Then you will be in trouble. On the other hand, having the documents in the cloud you know that, whether by mobile phone, tablet or your computer, you will be able to access them, download them, print them, etc. without any problem.
Not only that, but also Google docs have an advantage that you can't find with others: the one that several people at the same time can make changes in real time, in such a way that it becomes an ideal tool for groups or work teams.
To this must be added that it has both comments (to add and read them) and the chat, to talk with that person without having to depend on a phone or another chat outside of this tool (so everything is concentrated in one place) .
The same happens with editing, where you will have the option to edit, but also to suggest, simulate the function of control of changes in Word, in such a way that you will see the changes and the option to approve or delete them, before form part of that final document.
And if you are thinking that using Google docs is going to be more cumbersome because you have to rely on the Internet, know that it is not. It can be used even without Internet because you will only need to add an extension in Chrome for Google Documents offline and enable the Offline option in Google Docs, in settings. So you don't need Internet, and it will be later when all of them are uploaded without you having to worry about anything.
How to use Google Docs
If after those you have seen, you are interested in Google Docs, you should know that all you need is to have a Google account to use this tool. Once you access your email, or even from the Google home page, it will give you the option to log in. If you do, you will see that it will put a logo with the photo of your gmail.
Next, you must hit the square of nine points that you have at the top of the screen. That is where you will find several Google applications, and where the Google Docs will be. You just have to click on "Documents" and that's it.
Be careful, if you can't find it, click on the "More from Google" button and they will list all the tools, although it is normal for it to appear among the first because it is widely used.
Once you log in, you will have a first row in which Start a new document will appear. There they will give you some templates such as Resumes, letters, project proposals, brochures, reports ... But also the possibility of creating a blank document.
If you look at the Template Gallery, when you click it, you will access the specific menu of the templates that there are, in case you need them.
If you give the horizontal bars (upper left corner, before the logo and the word Documents), you will see that the types of docs that you can open are various: Documents (word, text), spreadsheets, presentations and forms.
And can you import documents or only create those that are made there?
If you already have documents made and you need them in this tool, know that you will not have a problem doing them. You just have to import them. How? We explain the steps:
Look at your screen. Locate the "plus" sign in the lower right corner. It is possible that, on the screen, it will not appear, so a trick is to move the mouse up and down with the wheel so that the screen changes and then it will appear. When you press, it will allow you to upload the document you want from your computer, pendrive, external disk ... and in a matter of minutes you will be able to work with it.
And if you are concerned about the format, in most situations you will not have a problem, it will remain the same as the one you created outside of the tool; the only thing that may change is the font, but the format itself should be kept.
How to share a document with Google Docs
Before we explained that one of the Advantages of Google Docs is the ability to collaborate among several on the document. But, to do so, first of all it is necessary to share it. And yes, it is just as easy as other functions.
To do this, you have to click the button on the right (with the mouse located over the Google document) and click to share. You will get a little screen that says "Share with others." Here you have two options:
- Get the link to share the document.
- Add people to do it. To do this, it is best to use emails (but keep in mind that they must be from Google).
In the case of adding people, it allows you to give them access to edit, to comment or just to see.