Google Drive Cheat SheetAn Unofficial Guide

Accessing Google Drive*You must use either Firefox or Google Chrome to access Google Drive. Internet Explorer will not work.*Two options:

● Go to http://drive.google.com and sign inor

● Go to www.google.com and click Sign In button in the upper right hand corner. Then click the Google Apps icon (3 x 3 squares) and click on the Drive icon (similar to recycling symbol)

Sign in for students is the same as logging in to a computer, plus @fcusd.org. The password is the same as logging in to a computer.Click on My Drive to see what items you have created.Click on Shared with Me to see what items have been created by other people and shared with you.

Giving a Google Doc a TitleClick Untitled Document in the upper left corner. A message box appears; click in the text box and type in a new title.Google Drive automatically saves every document whether it has a title or not.

Sharing a Google DocTwo options:

● Click the blue Share button in the upper right hand corner.or

● Click File (the one below your title, not the File option for the browser which is further up in the left hand corner). Select Share.

A message box appears. Type the e-mail address for the person with whom you’d like to share your document.Your document must have a title in order for you to share it.On occasion, the Share message box takes a long time to load, or you may get a “Sorry, Sharing is not available at this time” message. Try again until it works. Uploading a Microsoft File (Word Document, PowerPoint, Excel Spreadsheet) into Google Drive (Documents, Presentations, Spreadsheets)Sign in to your Google Drive account.Click the Upload button (upward pointing arrow) located next to the Create button.Choose files.Navigate to where your file (Word Doc, PowerPoint, etc.) is saved. Double click on your saved file.A message box appears saying Upload Complete. Close the message box.

Karri JacoboskyLibrarian, FCUSDMitchell Middle (M) and Cordova High (Tu)

Your file will appear in Google Drive under My Drive.When you click on the file icon in Google Drive, it may open with a black background. Click Open (may have to repeat) until the file opens with a white background. You can now edit or share your file.

Downloading from Google Docs to Microsoft Word or PDFTo save a file in Google Docs to a Microsoft Word format:Click File under your Google Docs Title (not the File way in the upper left hand corner). Select Download As and select the Microsoft Word (or PDF Document) option.A message box appears; select Save File. The file should now be saved in your district G drive under Downloads. It can be now be opened in Microsoft Word (or Adobe Reader for PDF files).

Saving (downloading) from Google Docs to a USB/Flash Drive (Removable Drive)To save a document from Google Docs to a USB Key you must first download the file to your G Drive as a Microsoft Word document (see above). You can then use the Save as option in Word to save it to your USB key (removable drive).

Where to look when a student can’t find their saved workIf a student is using their Google Drive, their work is automatically saved. If they have not given it a name, it will be listed as Untitled Document. All work done on Google Drive should be available under My Drive. It is also possible it might be under Shared with Me.

If a students are using Microsoft Word or PowerPoint, they must save their work. They should save their work in their G Drive. Some students just click Save and don’t know they have to check or change the default location to their G Drive. These files often get saved to a computer’s Desktop, which means it is only saved on that one computer and is not accessible over the district’s network. If the student remembers which computer they used to write their document, they may be able to return to that computer, find it, and save it to either the G Drive or to Google Docs. Of course, if the student doesn’t save at all while using Microsoft Office, their work is lost.

Printing from Google DocsThere are two different File buttons on the screen. One from the browser and way up in the upper left-hand corner. The other is lower and within the Google Docs window. Both provide a way to print:

● The fast, less professional appearance: Click File in the browser menu, way up in the upper left-hand corner. Select Print. Choose number of pages and click OK. This should print the document, but it will have the website address printed across the top of the document.

Karri JacoboskyLibrarian, FCUSDMitchell Middle (M) and Cordova High (Tu)

● The slower, cleaner copy: Click the lower File button from the Google Docs menu. Select Print. Click Open with Adobe Reader. A new window should pop up. Choose File, then Print from within the new window. You should get a clean copy this way.

Karri JacoboskyLibrarian, FCUSDMitchell Middle (M) and Cordova High (Tu)