Table of Contents

Overview of Google Drive

Access Google Drive

Links to Google Drive

Convert attachments to Drive from Gmail

Compatibility

Works for everyone

Import/export options

Advanced import options

Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office

Google Drive Offline

Overview

Intermittent Internet connection

Use Google Drive offline securely

Allow offline access for your computer

Sync items to view offline

How to view Google Drive offline

Offering word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, forms, and drawings and cloud-based storage, Google Drive provides an easy-to-use, integrated way for teachers and students to work together on projects, reports, and more, and to collect and share information in a secure online environment.

Some of the advantages of using Google Drive include:

Anytime, anywhere access  

Web-based Google Drive safely stores documents online, making them accessible to authorized users from any computer or mobile device, whenever they're needed. No need to save files to a USB thumbdrive, you can always access your files from any internet browser.

Collaboration support Google Drive lets users easily invite others to work on the same document, at the same time, without the hassle of attaching and sending documents. Sharing privileges ensure access by only the right people or groups, and allow either editing or read-only access.

Autosave and revision history Continuous autosave ensures that current work stays safe, preserving ongoing drafts and edits. A complete revision history makes it easy to review, compare, or revert to a prior version at any point.

Shared folders Files and Docs that are regularly used by teams or groups stay organized and up-to-date – without the need to manage and communicate changes.

Templates Ready-made templates covering a wide range of document and report types help jump-start writing projects. You can also create and publish your own document templates to establish assignment structures for your students. Templates can be copied with one click and then modified like any other document.

Links to Google Drive

You can access Google Drive from any of your school Google Apps product pages.

1. In the top left corner of any product main page, you will see a list of links.
2. Click Drive.  
   

In addition to the links at the top left of any Google Apps page, you can also access Google Drive through a custom URL for your school:

1. Type http://drive.google.com/a/yourschool.org into your browser address bar. Please replace yourschool.org with your school Apps domain name

Convert attachments to Drive from Gmail

When you are using Gmail, Google will automatically detect supported file types for your attachments and offer an option to open the attachment using Google Drive, either as a Google document, spreadsheet, or presentation. When you open the attachment in Google Drive, you don't need to download the file to your computer and it will be available with the rest of your Google Drive files.

To automatically convert an email attachment to Google Drive, click the "Open as a Google spreadsheet" link in the attachment area at the bottom of the message. The document will then convert in a new window for you to view and edit as you would with any other file in Google Drive.

Works for everyone

Because Google Drive is accessed online via a browser, there are very few compatibility issues that exist when you use installed software. This can save time and simplify the process of sharing and exchanging files.

Any computer, any operating system Whether you use a Mac, PC, or Linux computer, you access Google Drive the same way – in your browser. Google Drive works with most modern browsers. You can start a document on a Mac at school and continue editing it on a home PC with no difference in quality or functionality.

No need to install upgrades Google Drive is constantly updating new features, but because it is accessed online, there is no need to install or upgrade software. Since everyone is always using the same version of Google Drive, there are no differences in saving or opening files. When viewing files on a different computer, you won't have to worry about formatting surprises or compatibility errors.

Latest version Passing around attachments of files via email or external media can cause a confusion with what is the "latest" version of a file. With Google Drive, you can share one file which everyone can view and edit.

Import/export options

Google Drive allows you to easily import and store any file format. In addition, with many of the file formats you have the option to convert the file into a Google Doc for editing and collaboration. After you're done collaborating and have a finished product, you can even export the documents out to be used with other word processing, spreadsheet or presentation programs.

You can also convert documents to a Google Drive format if you happened to upload it in an unconverted format. While in the document list, right-click on the file you want to convert and select Make a copy or Export to Google Docs. This doesn’t modify your original file and adds a new Google Drive copy to your Drive list.

Advanced import options

Spreadsheet has an extensive list of import options available for bringing data into a Google Spreadsheet. For example, when importing a .csv file, you can create a whole new spreadsheet, append to the current sheet, add a new sheet to your existing spreadsheet or even replace your entire spreadsheet with this new version.

A custom delimiters option is also available which allows users to what character to parse the data file with, giving users maximum flexibility when dealing with data files.

The Import dialog is available from the File menu from within Spreadsheets.

Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office

Google Cloud Connect is a plug-in for Microsoft® Office 2003, 2007, and 2010 that lets you share and simultaneously edit Microsoft Word, PowerPoint®, and Excel® documents with other people in your organization. You get the collaboration benefits of Google Drive, while continuing to use Microsoft Office.

System requirements

Google Cloud Connect works for Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel files for users of Microsoft Office 2003, 2007, and 2010. It supports Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. It is currently not available for Macs. For more details, see System requirements.

Syncing and sharing documents

Google Cloud Connect tracks, manages and syncs all changes on your Microsoft Office documents into one updated version for each document. Each document that you sync through Google Cloud Connect gets a unique URL, or web address, that you can share with collaborators through IM or email. Depending on the privacy setting you’ve selected for the document, other people will be able to click this link and view the document in the browser.

Collaborating simultaneously on documents

Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office lets you easily share documents with other people. When you add someone as an editor in a document, they receive an e-mail letting them know that a document has been shared with them. From there, they can open a link to view the document in the browser, or if they want to make edits, they can download the document and open it in Microsoft Office. When another editor edits a document in Microsoft Office, all changes get synced to and will be reflected on your screen.

Open any Office file stored in Google Drive directly from within Microsoft Office.

From the Google Cloud Connect menu, click Open from Google Drive…

This will bring up a dialog listing all the documents that can be opened with the application you are using. For example, if you are working in Microsoft PowerPoint, you will see a list of all the Microsoft PowerPoint files available in Google Drive. You can then select the file you want to download and open.

If you have a lot of files stored in Google Drive, use search to find the file you are looking for. After selecting a file to open, the file will be downloaded to your computer and opened automatically.

When you want to open the file again, you’ll be able to open it from the folder you downloaded the file into. Now you can collaborate, share and access revision history on that file in Microsoft Office.

Revision history

Using Google Cloud Connect, you can edit a document both online and offline. Every time you sync a document, the revisions of a document are stored so you can easily roll back to a previous version. You can retrieve and revert to any prior revision of a document at any time.

Overview

You're able to view Google Docs and Sheets even when you don't have an Internet connection. You're also able to edit Google documents offline. This is particularly useful when you're on an airplane or train without wireless Internet.

Here are some important notes about using Google Drive when you're offline:

• You'll need to Set up Drive offline from your Drive List to start accessing your documents and spreadsheets without an Internet connection.
• Offline access is available in the Google Chrome web browser only.
• Offline access is available only for Docs and Sheets. Presentations, drawings and other items from your Documents List are not available offline at this time.
• Sheets are only available in view-only mode. You must restore your Internet connection to make any edits.
• You can't create new documents and spreadsheets while you're offline.
• You'll need to allow offline access separately on each computer where you want to view your Google Drive offline.

Offline access isn't currently available for every part of your Google Drive. The table below indicates what you're able to view and edit while offline.

Note: Editing My Drive on Android and iOS is limited to starring files and folders.

Intermittent Internet connection

If you're working with an intermittent Internet connection, type https://docs.google.com/offline into your Chrome browser for a more stable view of your offline Documents List.

Use Google Drive offline securely

Offline access is allowed on a computer-by-computer basis. In other words, you must allow offline access for each individual computer where you'd like to view your documents and spreadsheets without an Internet connection. Offline copies of your documents and spreadsheets will be synced to each computer where you've enabled Google Drive offline.

Anyone with access to a computer with offline access enabled will be able to view all of your synced documents and spreadsheets when they open Chrome. To help protect the security of your data, we strongly advise that you don't allow offline access on public or shared computers. Instead, allow offline access on personal computers where only you have access, and where your access to the computer is password protected.

Allow offline access for your computer

Follow these steps to enable offline access on your computer. Keep in mind that offline access is available only when you’re using Chrome.

1. Navigate to https://drive.google.com.
2. Click More on the left-hand side of the screen.
3. Select Offline Docs.
4. Setting up offline access is a two-step process. First, click the blue button that says Enable offline docs. After a few seconds, you'll be able to move on to the next step.
5. On the right side of the dialog, click the blue button that says Install from Chrome web store. If you already have the app installed, you won't need to complete this step.
6. You'll be taken to the Chrome web store. Click Add to Chrome in the upper-right corner of the browser window.
7. Once the app is installed, you'll be taken to a Chrome page with the Google Drive app icon. To return to Drive, click the Google Drive icon.

Sync items to view offline

When you return to your Drive after authorizing offline access, you'll see a notification box in the upper left, indicating that your files are being synced offline. While you have an Internet connection and are signed into your Google account, your most recently opened documents and spreadsheets will sync and be available for offline viewing when you open Chrome.

To sync documents and spreadsheets, you must have an Internet connection. To view sync progress, click the gear icon  in the upper right of your browser window. You'll see a grey status message indicating sync progress or the time when your Drive was last synced.

You can view all of the items you have available offline by selecting the View offline Docs menu item. You can also disable offline access by selecting Stop using Docs offline. Disabling offline will also remove the offline copies of documents and spreadsheets stored on this computer.

View Google documents and spreadsheets offline

After allowing offline access on your computer, you have two ways to view your synced Docs and Sheets offline:

Without Internet connection.

When your computer is disconnected from the Internet, open Chrome. Visit drive.google.com. The offline version of your Drive will load.

After losing Internet connection.

If you're using Google Drive in Chrome and suddenly lose your Internet connection, reload the browser window. This will show the offline version of your Drive and each of the Google Docs and Sheets you have open.

When you're using your Google Drive in offline mode and regain access to the Internet, click "Return to online mode" in the bar at the top of your browser window. This will reload the online version of your Drive if you're signed into your Google account.

A few seconds after you regain Internet access, your documents and spreadsheets will return to online mode automatically. You can always speed this process up by reloading the document or spreadsheet.

A few things to remember:

• Offline access is available in Chrome only.
• Offline access is available only for Google Docs and Sheets.
• You can edit and create new Google Docs while offline.
• Offline Sheets are available in view-only mode. You must restore your Internet connection to make any edits or create new spreadsheets.