I was in love with Google Docs. He helped me save, open, and print so many wonderful freebies. Then one day, a few months ago, he got an attitude. He decided he wasn’t going to work on my iPad anymore. I thought maybe it was just me. But, I talked to some others and found out he was giving them the same attitude. So, from then on, if I came across a freebie on Google Docs, I had a a choice, either skip it or get off my butt and go to my computer to open it.
I recently was feeling quite lazy. I was reading blogs before bed on my iPad and I ran across a Google Docs freebie. I really wanted it, but I REALLY didn’t want to get out of bed. So, I found a long round about way to make it work. I’ll share it with you today. This trick is only useful if you are feeling too lazy to go to your computer but not mentally lazy because there are quite a few steps.
If you are on your iPad and click on a google doc link, you see the doc with magnifying glasses on the top left and arrows on the top right. On the bottom you see the word Download, Sign Out, and Desktop in blue. If only that word download actually worked!
1. Click on Desktop
2. When you see the warning, click Continue to Desktop Version
3. Click on the printer icon
4a. If all you want is to print, and you have that set up, just click print.
4b. If you want to save, tap the document anywhere and you will see “Open in iBooks” “Open in…”
5. Choose Open in.. and then you can open it in Dropbox, Evernote, or any other app you’ve installed.
6. If you choose Dropbox, just hit save.
Tip: I set up Dropbox so that I made a folder called downloads. I have my iPad always save items to that folder so they are easy to find when I want to print them later.
Anytime you are on your iPad and open a document, if you tap it you will see the option to “open in iBooks” or “Open in…” . This allows you to save documents on your iPad to places like Dropbox.
Dropbox is a free service that let’s you open your files anywhere. I use dropbox for everything. If I’m at home on my laptop, on my computer at work, on my phone, on my iPad, even at a friends house on their computer, I can open any document. If you don’t have an account, you can leave your email and I’ll send you a referral email.
If you don’t want to use Dropbox, those directions will work with other apps. When I click Open in… I see iBook, Quickoffice, HP home&biz, PaperPad Lite, LogMeIn, Evernote, and Dropbox. You’ll see whatever apps you have that can open documents.
I hope this helps someone. I was happy to figure it out, even though there are so many steps.
Elizabeth says
Yes, this helps 🙂 Thanks!
Elizabeth
Fun in Room 4B
Mercedes Hutchens says
I'm glad, Elizabeth. 🙂