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Edit Microsoft Office files in Gmail

2 minute read

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Even if you’re 100% Google, chances are you’re still going to interact with people who are working with Microsoft Office files rather than Google.

Over the past year, Google has made a concerted effort to improve the interaction between Office files and Google Drive. That continues this week with three awesome updates to the relationship between Gmail, Google Drive and Microsoft Office.
Edit Microsoft Office files in Gmail

1. Convert Office files to Google in one click

In the GIF above, you’ll notice that you can now convert Microsoft files to Google in one click, streamlining the editing process. Here’s what Google had to say on Google+:

With just one click on the new edit icon in Gmail attachments, you can automatically convert Office documents — giving you the additional benefits of a single document to keep track of, access from anywhere (even offline!), and revision history.

2. 15 new supported Office formats

Adding a bunch of new Office formats means you don’t need to worry about content transferring correctly to Google:

And while we’re on the topic of conversion, you can now import 15 new Office formats — including presentation show files (pps, ppsx), macro-enabled files, and template files — all with improved charts, images, and tables support!

3. Edit Office files with Google Office Editor

If you would rather edit Microsoft files in their existing format, you have that choice if you’ve installed the Office Editor from the Chrome Web Store

Pro tip: we realize that sometimes you need to open and edit an Office file without converting it to Google formats, so to have that choice, just install the Chrome extension: http://goo.gl/FgMfk9. Once it’s in place, you’ll have the option to convert the file by clicking on the pencil icon, or edit the file as is by clicking on the attachment card and selecting open from the top of the file preview.

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