Documents

Presentations
Spreadsheets



  General

Troubleshooting Tips
The Short Answer
 Link to a Helpful User Post
  • Try accessing Google Docs from another browser
  • Make sure popups are allowed for Google Docs
  • Clear your cache and cookies. Instructions for clearing your cache and cookies can be found here: http://www.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=497&topic=8995
  • Try accessing Google Docs from https://docs.google.com
  • Disable any interfering browser plugins or extensions
See ahab's tips here


File types for upload


The Short Answer

Related help Center Articles

You can upload the following document types:

  • HTML
  • Plain text (.txt)
  • Microsoft Word (.doc)
  • .rtf
  • Open Office (.odt)
  • .xls
  • .ods
  • .csv
  • .tsv
  • .tsb
  • .ppt
  • .pps

Importing and exporting: Uploading docs



File types for export

The Short Answer
 Related Help Center Articles
You can export documents to you local computer in any of the following formats:

  • Microsoft Word (.doc)
  • OpenOffice (.odt)
  • .rtf 
  • .pdf 
  • HTML zip 
  • .txt

Importing and exporting: Uploading docs


Document sharing



The Short Answer
 A link to a great user post that goes into more detail Related Help Center Articles
To share a document, follow these basic steps

1. From the Doclist, select the documents you'd like to share

2. Click the Share button.

3. Enter the email addresses of those you'd like to share with, and choose to invite them as collaborators or viewers.

4. Add a message and click "Send Invitation." (Note: even if you don't do this, the document will be shared.)
See ahab's thorough explanation of document sharing, here.


Working with Collaborators: Real time collaboration 

Privacy and Security 

Unrecognized Collaborators 

Reverting to older versions
The Short Answer
 Related Help Center Articles
1. Open the document, spreadsheet or presentation.
2. Click the Revisions tab.
3. Click Older until you find a version you want to work  
    from, or select an older version from the drop-down
    menu.
4. Click Revert to this one on the right side of the page.

Your document, spreadsheet or presentation is reset to the older version you selected. Now, when your collaborators view this file, they will see the older version.

Finding Docs in the Docs List
The Short Answer
 Related Help Center Articles
  • Search for the document using the search box.
  • Click Created by me or Opened by me, or open a folder to view all of its documents.
  • Browse by time frame in the Docs list (e.g. in the Today or Yesterday sections).
  • Check that the document wasn't accidentally moved to the Trash or Hidden view.


Working Offline

The Short Answer
Related Help Center Articles
To install or enable Gears for Google Docs.

1. Click the Offline link in the upper-right corner of your
   Docs list.
2. When you see the dialogue box, click the Get Google 
    Gears now button.
3. You'll then be asked to allow https://docs.google.com as
    a trusted site. Check the box next to 'I trust this site.
    Allow it to use Google Gears.' Then, click Allow.
4. Once you've enabled Google Gears, you'll be able to edit
    your existing documents anywhere, even without an
    Internet connection.
5. To access Docs offline, just open a browser and enter the
    address http://docs.google.com or simply click the
    Google Docs desktop shortcut.		Why don't I have the Offline link?
Syncing docs for the first time
Working offline
How to tell you're working offline
Saving changes while working offline
Security Precautions while working offline


Troubleshooting for Google Docs Offline

The Short Answer
Related Help Center Articles
If you're getting a persistent error message while working offline, make sure you do the following:

  • Keep your browser window open until you can go back online. Once you're back online, Google Docs will start syncing and saving your changes.
  • If Google Docs doesn't sync once you're online, copy the content of your document to a text file in order to make sure you've backed up your work.
  • If you've already closed your browser, it's possible some content has been lost. However, go back online making sure to access your documents from the same browser and the same computer that you used to edit them while offline. You'll want to be sure to check for your changes under Revisions.





Offline changes aren't visible online
Working with Collaborators offline
I don't have a Google Docs desktop shortcut



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Documents

Linking to Content within a Document
The Short Answer Related Help Center Articles
To create a bookmark in your document, follow these steps:

1. Click on the part of the document where you want to place
    the bookmark.
2. Click the "Insert" tab.
3. Select "Bookmark" from the displayed toolbar.
4. Type the name of the bookmark in the "New Bookmark"
    field and click "OK"

In order for bookmarks to work, they need to be linked. To create a link to a bookmark, follow these steps:

1. Highlight the part of your document that you'd like to turn
    into a link. Alternately, you can just click on a blank space
    in your document and have the link created there.
2. Click the "Insert" tab.
3. Select the “Link” icon displayed in the toolbar.
4. In the "Link To" section, select the "Bookmark" option.
5. In the "Bookmark" section, choose the bookmark you want
   and click "OK"


Printing

The Short Answer
 Related Help Center Articles
  1. From within the document you'd like to print, either click the Print link, on the upper-right side of the page, the Print icon on the far left or select Print from the File menu.
  2. A screen will pop up and provide you choices for page orientation, etc. Click ok and this will download the contents of your document to a PDF, so that you can print from the PDF file menu.
Printing:Printing your docs



Adding Viewers
Short Answer
 Related Help Center Articles
You can add viewers the same way you add collaborators from the share tab. When you get to the page to share, choose as viewers instead of as collaborators. If the document is published or accessed by invitation, anyone without a Google Account can view it. Overview:Adding viewers


Emailing in Documents
The Short Answer
 Related Help Center Articles
You can email in multiple docs to your account by doing the following:
1. Click the Upload button on your Docs list page and you'll
    see a lengthy designated email in address
2. You can then paste this in the To: field of an email email
    multiple docs to your account in the body of the email or
    as attachments 		Importing and Exporting:Uploading Docs


Spellchecking
The Short Answer
 Related Help Center Articles
1. Click the 'abc' icon on the right of your toolbar. All
    misspelled words on the page are highlighted yellow.
2. To stop spellchecking a doc, simply click on the icon. 		Basic Editing: Spellcheck


Presentations


Full Screen mode
The Short Answer
 Related Help Center Articles
Press F11 while in presentation view to enter full screen mode.

To hide the chat feature, click the left side of the chat module, in the area beside the arrow. 		Hiding the Chat Feature

Embedding a Presentation
The Short Answer Related Help Center Articles
  1. Click the Publish tab in the upper-right corner of the screen.
  2. Click the Publish document button.
  3. After publishing your presentation, copy and paste the code that appears into your website.
Embedding a Presentation
Reordering your slides


Exporting your Presentation
The Short Answer Related Help Center Articles
1. Click the File menu of the presentation you'd like to    
    export.
2. Select Save as PDF.
3. In the window that appears, select the option to save the
    file. 		Exporting and presenting offline


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Spreadsheets
Creating Charts

The Short Answer
 Related Help Center Articles
1. From the 'Edit' page of your spreadsheet, select the cells of data you'd like to include in the chart. Note: It helps to label the data in your spreadsheet before creating a chart.

2. Select the Pie Chart icon in the menu bar or choose "Insert" > "Chart." 

3. Select the type of chart you'd like to create: columns, bars, lines, pie, scatter, etc.

4. Type labels for your chart in the fields called "Chart title" (title of your chart), "Horizontal" (what the horizontal axis represents), "Vertical" (what the vertical axis represents).

5. In the "What data?" section, make sure the range of data is correct and then specify if you want data grouped by row or column.

6. Preview your chart and edit as necessary, and then click OK.




How does the sort bar work?

GoogleFinance Updates

Creating Forms
The Short Answer
 Related Help Center Article
  1. Open a new spreadsheet.
  2. Save the spreadsheet.
  3. Click the Share tab.
  4. Under 'Invite people:' choose the radio button to fill out a form.
  5. Click Start editing your form... In the form template that opens,
  6. you can add any questions and options you'd like.
  7. Click the Preview and send tab. Here, you can add email addresses,
  8.  a custom confirmation message, and choose whether you want people to see the responses.
  9. When you're finished, click Send.
Creating Forms
Forms iGoogle Gadget


You can also see how your own Google Docs Help Group has answered some of these frequently asked questions. Check out a Spreadsheets FAQ created by fellow group members Aaron, ahab and Lexcel. *Please note, some of these topics may be out of date, but it's a good reference.

Spreadsheets FAQ