Working with Office files

You can edit, download, and convert Microsoft® Office files in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides.

To edit an Office file, you can either:

  • Edit the file using Office Compatibility Mode (OCM)
  • Convert the file to Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides.

Once you've edited a Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides file, you can then save and export it as an Office file to share with others.

Edit Office files

Edit files using Office Compatibility Mode (OCM)

To open and edit Office files, you can use Office Compatibility Mode (OCM). With OCM, you can open and edit Office files in Drive, the Docs, Sheets, and Slides homescreens & apps, and Gmail.

Computer

You can only use OCM using a Chrome browser on your computer.

  1. Open a Chrome browser window.
  2. Install the Office Editing for Docs, Sheets & Slides Chrome extension.
  3. Open any Office file and start editing.

How to know you can edit Office files

  1. Open an Office file.
  2. Click the File menu.
  3. If you see "Office Compatibility Mode" in the menu, you can edit the file or save it to Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides.

Note: To edit Office files on a Chromebook, see instructions in the Chromebook help center.

Android or iOS

On your mobile device, OCM is automatically included with the Docs, Sheets, and Slides apps. When you open an Office file in one of the apps, you'll be able to edit it.

Download Office files

To download Office files using OCM:

  1. Open a Chrome browser window.
  2. Open an Office file.
  3. In the top right, click Download.

Convert an Office file to Docs, Sheets, or Slides

If you want to work with others on a file in real-time, you can convert an Office file to Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides.

Computer
  1. Sign in to Drive or one of the Docs, Sheets, or Slides homescreens.
  2. Right-click a file.
  3. Select Open with > Docs (or Sheets or Slides).

If you're editing an Office file in OCM, you can convert by clicking File > Save as Google Docs (or Sheets or Slides)

Android or iOS
  1. Open the Drive, Docs, Sheets, or Slides app.
  2. Open an Office file.
  3. In the top right, touch the More icon Image.
  4. Next to "Office Compatibility Mode", touch the question mark.
  5. Touch Save as Google Docs (or Sheets or Slides).
  6. The file will now be converted to Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides.

Features not supported

The following features are not supported during conversion to Docs, Sheets, or Slides:

  • Password protected files
  • Macros
  • Embedded charts in Word and PowerPoint files
  • Linked spreadsheets in Excel files

Save & export files to an Office format

After converting your Office files to Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides, or using OCM to make edits to your file, you can save and export the file back to an Office format and share it with others.

Computer

To save your Google Doc, Sheet, or Slide back as an Office file:

  1. Open the file.
  2. Click the File menu.
  3. Select Download as.
  4. Choose a file format.
Android or iOS

To save your Google Doc, Sheet, or Slide back as an Office file:

  1. Open the Docs, Sheets, or Slides app.
  2. Next to a file, touch the More icon Image.
  3. Choose Share & export.
  4. Select Save as Word (or Excel or PowerPoint).

If you want to send the Office file to someone, you can also select Save & export > Send a copy > Word (or Excel or PowerPoint) > OK.

Compatible file types

Open a section below to see:

File types you can open with OCM

These are the file types that can be opened with Office Compatibility Mode (OCM):

  • Documents: .doc (if newer than Microsoft® Office 95), .docx
  • Spreadsheets: .xls (if newer than Microsoft® Office 95), .xlsx, .xlt, .xlsm, xltm, xlam
  • Presentations: .ppt (if newer than Microsoft® Office 95), .pptx
File types you can convert to Docs, Sheets, or Slides

These are the file types that can be converted to Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides:

  • Documents: .doc (if newer than Microsoft® Office 95), .docx, .docm .dot, .dotx, .dotm, .html, plain text (.txt), .rtf, .odt
  • Spreadsheets: .xls (if newer than Microsoft® Office 95), .xlsx, .xlsm, .xlt, .xltx, .xltm .ods, .csv, .tsv, .txt, .tab
  • Presentations: .ppt (if newer than Microsoft® Office 95), .pptx, .pptm, .pps, .ppsx, .ppsm, .pot, .potx, .potm, .odp
  • Drawings: .wmf, .emf
  • OCR: .jpg, .gif, .png, .pdf
File types you can download or save to an Office format

These are the Office file types that can be saved back to an Office format:

  • Documents: .docx
  • Spreadsheets: .xlsx
  • Presentations: .pptx
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Matt is a Docs & Drive expert and author of this help page. Leave him feedback below about the page.

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