Google Docs is becoming increasingly popular by the day, especially in schools where all they use are Chromebooks. That fact may make managing most of your documents within the Google Docs app sound like a good idea, but there’s life outside of a classroom.
In the real world, most people would prefer their documents in the good old Microsoft Word document, which has become the industry standard now. For certain work documents, a PDF is a more presentable submission than pasting a lengthy link that leads to a Google Docs document.
When editing Google Docs documents on your iPhone or iPad, finding controls that will let you export the document to a tangible file can be pretty difficult. In this article, I’ll show you how to save a Google Doc to files on iPhone.
How to Save a Google Doc to Files on iPhone
Your iPhone is probably not the best device for converting and saving your Google Docs document as a regular file. Many factors work against the possibility that no one should even consider saving a Google Docs to the files app on an iPhone unless in dire scenarios.
First, the Files app on an iPhone isn’t the best you’ll find. You’re better off using your slow Chromebook, or better still, a proper PC or Mac machine. Those computers make it easier to export a Google Docs document to a format like Word’s DOCX, making it a better option overall.
Also, you have to export the new document to files, which is exclusive to the iPhone’s Files app. Trust me; if you must save a Google Docs document to a file, you may want to use any device that doesn’t have “iPhone” in the name.
Let’s say you have no other devices apart from your trusty old iPhone; how do you save a Google Docs document to Files using the device alone? Here are the steps required to do that right on your iPhone.
- Open the Google Docs app on your iPhone or iPad. The icon is a blue sheet with the top right corner folded a bit. Since it’s labeled Docs, you should have no problems finding it from your plethora of apps.
- Navigate to the document you intend to convert to a document file. If it has been a while since you created it, the search function should offer great help. When you see the document, tap on it once to open it in the editing view on the Google Docs app.
- When you get to the editing screen, tap the three horizontally arranged dots at the top right corner to bring up the Google Docs in-app menu.
- From the menu, you should see a “Share & Export” option with an arrow at the end, signifying that there are more options when you select this option. Tap on it and you’ll see another collection of sharing options that apply to iOS devices.
- From there, select the “Save as Word (.docx)” option to save it in the native Microsoft Word document format and share it with your Files app.
When you save a document in the Microsoft Word document format, you can always send it to your computer and open it on a dedicated word processing software to make further edits to the document. If you’re turning it in as an assignment, the Word (.docx) format is also ideal, as it makes it easy for anyone to make edits to the document.
How to Edit Document Files from Google Docs
When you save a file in the Microsoft Word document format on your iPhone, you may have to edit it once more before mailing it to its final destination. For that, you’ll need an app that will let you edit documents on your mobile device.
There are many options available in the App Store, but this section will only talk about the most popular options. You can choose to use the Microsoft Word app, which is what Microsoft intends for you to edit document apps on your iPhone. You can also use the Pages app from Apple or Google Docs from Google to make edits to your saved document.
Without further ado, here are the methods you can use to edit Word (.docx) documents on your iPhone.
- Using the Google Docs app
Since this article assumes you already have the Google Docs app, it only makes sense for you to edit the document right from your Google Docs since it was created there anyway. Not only can you create and edit documents with Google Docs, but you can also import document files for editing.
Once you open a document for viewing in Preview on your iPhone, you can tap on the share icon and copy the file to Google Docs. You can start editing your Google Docs document from there. However, since the document is originally from Google Docs, there’s no reason to upload it to the platform again.
- Using the Microsoft Word app
Another popular app that lets you edit documents on your iPhone is the Microsoft Word application that’s available on the app store. You can search for the app and click on the GET button to install the app for free.
After installing the app, you can tap open from the in-app menu to see your files. From there, you can navigate through your files, select the document in question and start editing. You can also save as you edit, updating the file in real-time.
READ MORE: How To Fix Save To Files on My iPhone Not Working
Conclusion
Your iPhone is more expensive than many computers; it makes little sense for it to cannot perform basic document editing at least. It turns out that if you know where to look, you can get an app that makes it easy to edit your document files on an iPhone.
If you work within Google Docs a lot, you may want to explore the possibility of saving a document from there to the Files app on your iPhone. This article shows you how to save a Google Doc to files on iPhone.