How to import your Word file into Google Docs in 2021

Microsoft Word files are still very common. Even if you’re not using them, you might be working with people who are- and you’ll need to be able to edit those files. In this article I will show you how you can do that with Google Docs.

Convert your Microsoft Word document into Google Docs format

Importing your work from Word to Docs is very straightforward

1. From Drive, use ‘Open with’ to open the Word file in Docs
2. Select ‘Save as Google Docs.’

I’ll walk you through the processes step by step so that you can start using all of your Word files in Google Docs. 👍

Import a Word file to Google Docs

1. Upload your file into Google Drive

2. Select your Word file and open it with Google Docs.

3. Under the file menu, select ‘Save as Google Docs,’ and the conversion is complete.

Automatically convert future uploads to Google Docs

Users who import Word files frequently can save time by configuring Drive to automatically convert future uploads.

1. Open settings from the main Google Drive interface.

2. Check the box to ‘Convert uploaded files to Google Docs editor format.’

Once you’ve confirmed this setting, all future file uploads will be automatically converted to their corresponding Google Doc file type.

Use-case example: Moving email templates from Microsoft Word to Gmail

If you used mail merge in Microsoft Office, you’ll likely have many email templates saved in Microsoft Word. For some emails, you might not be able to simply copy and paste it into Gmail without breaking the formatting.

You can solve this problem by first moving the document into Google docs, which can more consistently copy and paste into Gmail without breaking formatting or style.

Use Google Docs to compose important emails

Because it can so easily paste content into Gmail, I think Google Docs is the perfect tool for writing better emails in Gmail. Compared to the standard Gmail compose experience, drafting with Google Docs will give far greater formatting and style options, while also providing real time collaboration, suggestions, and cloud sync. We've written an in depth guide to demonstrate, if you're curious.