Manage Microsoft Office Documents in Google Workspace
Before you begin
As of Fall 2025, Microsoft no longer offers free desktop versions of their Office suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc) for educators.
If you're a MS Office user, Google Workspace's suite of productivity and collaboration tools can be used to do the same things you're used to doing, with some additional benefits:
- Securely stored in CCA's Google Workspace cloud
- Real-time collaboration is easier, since files aren't stored locally
- Lower risk of data loss in the event of a broken, lost, or stolen device
The tips below highlight how you can Google Workspace to maximize your workflow, even if you often work with Microsoft Office file formats or locally stored files.
Manage MS Office Files in Google Workspace
Save Google Workspace Files in Microsoft Office Formats
If you are working within Google Drive, and need to send a document in MS Office format outside of Google Drive, follow these steps.
From your Google Workspace file:
- Select ‘File’ > 'Download'
- Select either ‘Microsoft Word, .docx’, ‘Microsoft Excel, .xlsx’ or ‘Microsoft PowerPoint, .pptx’ as appropriate
Your file will save to your device 'Downloads' folder and can be opened in MS Office desktop applications accordingly.
You can re-upload this version of the file into Google Workspace as well, should you need to (see steps below).
Open/Upload Microsoft Office Files in Google Workspace
If you receive a file in MS Office format, you can upload, edit, and view files with .xlsx, .docx or .pptx file formats directly in Google Workspace:
- Open Google Drive
- Select ‘New’ > ‘File Upload’
- Select the Microsoft Office file you wish to upload/view
Once uploaded, you should be able to find and open the file in your Google Drive. It may take a second for Google to process the file before opening it with the corresponding Google Workspace program.
Convert Microsoft Office Files to Google Workspace Formats
If you have files with .xlsx, .docx or .pptx formats saved in your Google Drive and wish to convert them to Google file formats:
- Open the file
- Select ‘File’ > ‘Save As Google Docs’, ‘Save As Google Sheets’ or ‘Save As Google Slides’ as appropriate
Google creates/saves a copy of the file in the selected format. It will open up in a new browser tab, and both files will be saved in Drive.
Note that later, if you want to convert this document back to MS Office format, you can do so following the steps above.
Sync Files from Your Hard Drive to Google Workspace
You can easily, automatically sync files saved on your device hard drive to your Google Workspace account. This is especially useful if you're used to working with locally stored files, including MS Office files.
In order to sync files to your Google Drive, you'll need to:
See Google's help documentation (links above) for additional information on Google Drive for desktop.