How to Convert Google Doc Files into MS Word Files and Vice Versa

Google Docs is easy, so easy that nowadays everyone gets their document jobs done through Google Docs instead of traditional document editors like Microsoft Word. Using Google Docs has many advantages, you can access your document from anywhere in the world, just with an Internet connection and a computer. You need not have a preinstalled software in your computer, nor do you have to compromise on spending space on storing the files you create.

However, not everyone likes to go with the flow and keep them up to date with modern technologies. We all like to be lazy at times and it’s totally fine if you are a Microsoft Word lover. But, the problem comes when you are a Google Docs person, but the other person who is going to work with you on the same document is a Microsoft Word person. Here, converting the file from Google Docs to MS Word format and vice versa plays a major part in getting your jobs done on time, without compromising on anyone’s software preferences.

In this article, we have got the perfect solutions for all your Google Docs to Docx conversions, and vice versa, be it a single file or a batch of files. Hope you find the article beneficial.

 

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Note: For all the methods and for the steps mentioned in the article, we assume that you are signed in to your Google Drive account and that you already have the files to be converted with you.

Section 1: How to Convert Google Doc Files into MS Word Files

In this section, we explain how you can easily convert files in Google Docs document format to Microsoft Word document format.

Section 1.1: Convert a Single Google Doc File into MS Word File Straight from Google Drive

Converting a single file from Google Docs format to Docx format is very easy. Simply right click on the Google Docs format file, then click on the Download option.

If you check the extension of the downloaded file, you will be able to see that it is Docx, which means that your Google Docs file got converted to a Docx file automatically when you downloaded it. You need not do anything extra for this conversion.



 

 

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Section 1.2: Convert a Single Google Doc File into MS Word File from Google Docs

In the previous section, we saw how you can convert Google Docs file to MS Word file right from Google Drive. If you would like to do the conversion from Google Docs instead, you can follow the steps below.

Step 1: Firstly, double click on the Google Docs file, that is present in your Google Drive, that you want to convert. This will open the file in your Google Docs.

 

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Step 2: Once the file is opened in Google Docs, click on the File tab at the top, click on the Download option and then click on the option Microsoft Word (.docx).

 

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Step 3: Now you will be able to see the Save As window. Simply browse to the location where you want to download the file into and hit the Save button.



As you can see, the downloaded file will be in Docx format, which is the Microsoft Word file format.

 

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Section 1.3: Convert Multiple Google Doc Files into MS Word Files

Now if you would like to convert a batch of files instead of a single file from Google Docs format to Docx format, then you will find the following steps helpful.

Step 1: Drag and select all the Google Docs files in your Google Drive that you want to convert to Docx format.

 

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Step 2: As next, right click on one of the selected files and hit the Download option.

 

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Step 3: The files will be zipped and the zip will be ready for download super soon. Choose the location where you want to save the zipped file and then hit the Save button.

 

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Step 4: If you extract the zip file and check the format of the downloaded files, you will be able to see that they are all in Microsoft Word Document format, indicating that your batch conversion from Google Docs format to Docx format was successful.

 

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Section 2: How to Convert MS Word Files into Google Doc Files

In Section 1, we saw how you can convert Google Docs files into Docx files. In this section, we will explain in detail how you can do the opposite, that is convert a Docx format file to Google Docs format.

Section 2.1: Convert a Single MS Word File into Google Doc File

Step 1: Double click on the Docx file that you have uploaded to your Google Drive to open it in Google Docs.

Note: Even if a file is not in Google Docs format, if you double click on it, it will open in Google Docs if it is in one of the supported formats, and Docx is indeed a supported format.

 

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Step 2: Once the file opens in Google Docs, click on the File tab at the top and then choose the option Save as Google Docs. That’s it.

 

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Step 3: If you now go back to the original location of the file that you uploaded, you can see another file is also created there with the same name, but this time the format is Google Docs. Enjoy!

 

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Section 2.2: Convert Multiple MS Word Files into Google Doc Files

Again, if you are someone who uploads Word documents to Google Drive quite often, converting each Docx file to Google Docs format is going to be time-consuming. So, is there a way how you can automatically convert all the Docx files uploaded to Google Drive, to Google Docs format? Yes, there sure is!

Step 1: Open Google Drive and then click on the Gear icon at the top right corner of the window.

 

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Step 2: From the menu that expands out, click on the Settings option.

 

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Step 3: In the Settings window, make sure on the General tab on the left side of the window.

And on the right side of the window, check the checkbox corresponding to the option Convert uploaded files to Google Docs editor format. Once you are all set, hit the DONE button at the top right corner of the Settings window.

 

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Step 4: Now, let’s test whether our new Settings are well in place. For that, let’s try uploading a Word file into Google Drive and check if it is automatically getting converted to the Google Docs format.

Click on the New button at the top left corner of the Drive window.

 

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Step 5: As next, click on the File upload option.

 

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Step 6: In the Open window, you can navigate to the location where your Docx files are present, select them and hit the Open button.

 

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Step 7: You will be able to see that your Docx files are getting uploaded to your Google Drive.

 

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Step 8: But once the upload is complete, you can see that they are uploaded in Google Docs format, not Docx format. Congrats!

To confirm, double click on one of the uploaded files.

 

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Step 9: When it opens up, you can see that there is no .DOCX indication associated with your uploaded file, telling you that your Docx file automatically got converted to Google Docs format.

Whereas for a Docx file, there will be an indication .DOCX associated with the file as shown in the screenshot below.

 

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Please tell us in the comments section whether the article was helpful. Thank you for reading.