Google Drive Will Now Edit Office Files Immediately

Google Drive can open Microsoft Office related files like word documents and spreadsheets. However, it was not always instantaneous and it usually opened in the form of a preview before users could choose to open it with either Google Docs or Google Sheets, but Google is now looking to make that experience better and faster.

The company has announced some changes to Google Drive where double clicking on an Office file will instantly launch it in editing mode, thus allowing users to pretty much get editing right away. Users can still preview the file if they wish by right-clicking and choosing preview, or clicking on the file once and press the P button on their keyboard.

According to Google, “This change makes it quicker to open and start editing documents. Users 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.”

Google notes that in terms of compatibility, this will apply to files with extensions ending in .docx, .doc, .ppt, .pptx, .xls, .xlsx, .xlsm, but they also note that files that are password protected will not open directly in editing mode. These changes are said to already have been implemented so you should be able to use it right away, but if you can’t, give it a couple of weeks where it should eventually make its way to you.

Tyler Lee
Categories: General
Tags: Google, google drive, Microsoft, office