How to Save a Google Doc

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This wikiHow teaches you how to save a Google Docs document. While Google Docs will automatically save your file in Google Drive as soon as you stop working on it, you can also save a copy of a shared Google Docs file into your Google Drive folder or save the Google Docs file onto your computer.

Saving a Document

• If you aren't logged into your Google account, enter your email address and password when prompted before continuing.

Open or create a document. Double-click an existing document to open it, or click Blank in the upper-left side of the page to create a new document. [1] X Research source

• You can add a title to the document by selecting the title in the upper-left corner of the page and typing in your preferred title.

• Once you see this confirmation, your document has been saved.

Change the document's save location. If you want to save your document in a specific folder in your Google Drive account, click the Folder

• Select a folder into which you want to move the file (you can double-click a folder to open it).
• Click Move here at the bottom of the menu.

Saving a Shared Document

• If you aren't logged into your Google account, enter your email address and password when prompted before continuing.

Click Make a copy . You'll find this option in the File drop-down menu. Doing so prompts a pop-up window. [4] X Research source

Enter a new name. Type your preferred name for the file into the text box at the top of the pop-up window. This is the name the file will have when saved to your Drive. [5] X Research source

Click OK . It's at the bottom of the window. The file will be saved to your Google Drive account with full read and write permissions.

Downloading a Google Doc

• If you aren't logged into your Google account, enter your email address and password when prompted before continuing.

Click File . It's in the top-left corner of the page. A drop-down menu will appear. [6] X Research source

Select Download as . This option is near the top of the drop-down menu. Doing so prompts a pop-out menu to appear.

• If you're on a Mac which doesn't have Microsoft Word installed, you can use Pages to open a Microsoft Word file.

• Depending on your browser's settings, you may first have to select a save location and click Save.

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You can save a document in Google Docs by waiting for the "Saving" icon to automatically save your document. For more details with images, including saving a document somewhere specific and saving a shared document, see the steps above. If you’re working offline, you’ll need to set up the ability for offline changes to be kept.

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Open your document first. Then click on the Folder icon in the top left hand corner of your Google document page layout. Next, choose the place where you want the document to be saved to (the drop-down menu will provide all the options), click Move Here and the document will be saved where you want it. All other saves after this will be automatic.

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