Work with Office files

You can edit, download, and convert Microsoft® Office files in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides.

To edit an Office file, you can either:

  • Edit the file using Office Compatibility Mode (OCM)
  • Edit the file directly in Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides.

Edit Office files

Edit files using Office Compatibility Mode (OCM)

To open and edit Office files, you can use Office Compatibility Mode (OCM). With OCM, you can open and edit Office files in Drive, the Docs, Sheets, and Slides homescreens & apps, and Gmail.

  • On your mobile device, OCM is automatically included with the Docs, Sheets, and Slides apps.
  • When you open an Office file in one of the apps, you'll be able to edit it.

Convert an Office file to Docs, Sheets, or Slides

If you want to work with others on a file in real-time, you can convert an Office file to Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides.

Convert an Office file

  1. Open the Drive, Docs, Sheets, or Slides app.
  2. Open an Office file.
  3. In the top right, tap More More.
  4. Next to "Office Compatibility Mode", tap the question mark.
  5. Tap Save as Google Docs (or Sheets or Slides).
  6. The file will now be converted to Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides.

Features not supported

The following features are not supported during conversion to Docs, Sheets, or Slides:

  • Password protected files
  • Macros (you can implement your macro in Apps Script)
  • Embedded charts and videos in Word and PowerPoint files will be converted to images
  • Linked spreadsheets in Excel files
  • SmartArt images will be converted to Google Drawings

Save & export files to an Office format

After converting your Office files to Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides, or using OCM to make edits to your file, you can save and export the file back to an Office format and share it with others.

To save your Google Doc, Sheet, or Slide back as an Office file:

  1. Open the Docs, Sheets, or Slides app.
  2. Next to a file, tap More More.
  3. Choose Share & export.
  4. Select Save as Word (or Excel or PowerPoint).

If you want to send the Office file to someone, you can also select Share & export and then Send a copy and then Word (or Excel or PowerPoint) and then OK.

Compatible file types

Open a section below to see:

File types you can open with OCM

These are the file types that can be opened with Office Compatibility Mode (OCM):

  • Documents: .doc (if newer than Microsoft® Office 95), .docx
  • Spreadsheets: .xls (if newer than Microsoft® Office 95), .xlsx, .xlt, .xlsm, xltm, xlam
  • Presentations: .ppt (if newer than Microsoft® Office 95), .pptx
File types you can convert to Docs, Sheets, or Slides

These are the file types that can be converted to Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides:

  • Documents: .doc (if newer than Microsoft® Office 95), .docx, .docm .dot, .dotx, .dotm, .html, plain text (.txt), .rtf, .odt
  • Spreadsheets: .xls (if newer than Microsoft® Office 95), .xlsx, .xlsm, .xlt, .xltx, .xltm .ods, .csv, .tsv, .txt, .tab
  • Presentations: .ppt (if newer than Microsoft® Office 95), .pptx, .pptm, .pps, .ppsx, .ppsm, .pot, .potx, .potm, .odp
  • Drawings: .wmf, .emf
  • OCR: .jpg, .gif, .png, .pdf
File types you can download or save to an Office format

These are the Office file types that can be saved back to an Office format:

  • Documents: .docx
  • Spreadsheets: .xlsx
  • Presentations: .pptx
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