<p><img src="https://static2.businessinsider.com/image/60480f0adf53f8001802a62c-2400/GettyImages-1261563720.jpg" border="0" alt="woman using desktop computer" data-mce-source="10'000 Hours/Getty Images"></p><p></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><p>While Microsoft makes it easy to use its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-onedrive">OneDrive</a> cloud service with Microsoft Office, you're not limited to that pairingyou can also integrate <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-google-drive-guide">Google Drive</a> with Microsoft Office. Not only does that allow you to use Google's online storage for your Office documents, but it improves collaboration as well. You can open Office documents in Google Docs, for example, where multiple people can edit files simultaneously. Here's everything you need to know about integrating Google Drive with Office. </p><h2>How to integrate Google Drive with Microsoft Office</h2><p>If you install Google Drive for desktop in Windows, you will be able to directly access your Google Drive online storage location within Microsoft Office apps. That means you can open and save files from Office directly to Google's cloud. </p><p>Any changes you make to your Office documents will be immediately available to anyone else sharing the files, and if other people make changes to the fileseven in Google Docsthey'll be available to you in Office as well. </p><p>To get started,<a href="https://support.google.com/drive/answer/7329379#zippy=%252Cdownload-install-google-drive-for-desktop"> download and install Google Drive for desktop</a>. When requested, log into your Google account.</p><p>After installing the app and logging in, you will find a new drive in Windows Explorer which corresponds to your online Google Drive. You can work with these files in the usual way on your desktop, or open them in Microsoft Office. </p><p><img src="https://static4.businessinsider.com/image/604815e8df53f8001802a62f-2101/How to integrate Google Drive with Microsoft Office-1.jpg" border="0" alt="How to integrate Google Drive with Microsoft Office 1" data-mce-source="Dave Johnson/Insider" data-mce-caption="After installing Google Drive for desktop, your Google Drive appears as a virtual drive on your PC so you can easily open and save Office documents on Google Drive."></p><aside class="breakout-box headline-regular"><h2><strong>How to upload Office files to Google Drive</strong></h2><p>If you have Office documents stored locally on your computer, you can upload them to Google Drive for storage and online editing. There are a few ways to do this:</p><ul><li aria-level="1">If you've already installed Google Drive for desktop (see the previous section), you can open the virtual Google Drive folder and the Office documents folders on the desktop and copy or move the files between the two locations. </li><li aria-level="1">You can also upload the files via a web browser. Open Google Drive in a browser window. Click "New" and then choose "File upload." Select one or more files from your computer and they'll be uploaded to your Google Drive. </li><li aria-level="1">Finally, you can drag and drop with a browser. Open Google Drive in a browser window. File the file or files you want to upload, and drag them to the Google Drive in your browser. Release them in the folder you want to store them in. <br><br></li></ul><p><img src="https://static1.businessinsider.com/image/604816ac9942cf001865d753-2400/HowtointegrateGoogleDrivewithMicrosoftOffice-2.png" border="0" alt="How_to_integrate_Google_Drive_with_Microsoft_Office 2" data-mce-source="Dave Johnson/Insider" data-mce-caption="You can easily upload Office documents to Google Drive using a web browser."></p></aside><h2>How to edit Office documents in Google Drive</h2><p>You can open any Office document in Google Drive. Open a Word file in Google Docs, for example, and Google will automatically import the file, usually retaining all formatting. When you do this, multiple people can open and edit Office documents in Google Drive simultaneously, as if it were an ordinary Google Doc. </p><p>Moreover, if you later open that document in Office, it will retain all the edits and comments that were added in Google Drive. </p><p>If you prefer to convert the file to a Google Doc permanently (in case you no longer use Microsoft Office), open the file in a Google Drive app and then click "File." In the File menu dropdown, choose "Save As Google Docs" (or Google Sheets or Google Slides, depending upon which app you are using).</p><p><img src="https://static4.businessinsider.com/image/60481731df53f8001802a630-1669/How to integrate Google Drive with Microsoft Office-3.jpg" border="0" alt="How to integrate Google Drive with Microsoft Office 3" data-mce-source="Dave Johnson/Insider" data-mce-caption="You can save an Office doc as a Google Doc."></p><aside class="breakout-box headline-regular"><h2><strong>How to share a Google Doc with someone using Microsoft Office</strong></h2><p>If you are collaborating with someone who only uses Office, you can share a Google Doc with that person in Office format. </p><ol><li aria-level="1">Open the file you want to share in a Google Drive app. </li><li aria-level="1">Click "File," and in the dropdown menu choose "Email this file."</li><li aria-level="1">In the email window, click the dropdown (it's set to "PDF" by default) and choose "Microsoft Word."</li><li aria-level="1">Address the email and click "Send."<br> </li></ol><p><img src="https://static1.businessinsider.com/image/60481a509942cf001865d756-1978/HowtointegrateGoogleDrivewithMicrosoftOffice-4.png" border="0" alt="How_to_integrate_Google_Drive_with_Microsoft_Office 4" data-mce-source="Dave Johnson/Insider" data-mce-caption="If you need to share a Google Doc with someone in an Office format, you can send it in the necessary format from Google Drive."></p></aside><bi-shortcode id="related-article-module-end-of-article" class="mceNonEditable" data-shortcode-display-text="Related Article Module: Multiple Articles"><a data-type="5cbde9f1d1a2f8644f5b402e" data-title="How to share files on Google Drive in 3 different ways, and choose who can view, comment, or edit" data-url="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-share-files-on-google-drive" data-vertical="sai" data-image="https://i.insider.com/5ed56a9d2618b930c97418f4">How to share files on Google Drive in 3 different ways, and choose who can view, comment, or edit</a><a data-type="5f23352f5fa9a47e6f74f226" data-title="19 of the best Google Drive tips and tricks for getting the most out of the service" data-url="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-drive-tips-and-tricks" data-vertical="sai" data-image="https://i.insider.com/5f247fb458c24d37d72729c4">19 of the best Google Drive tips and tricks for getting the most out of the service</a><a data-type="5fa058418fc3976fc85b71ed" data-title="How to sync files and folders to OneDrive on a PC or Mac computer" data-url="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-sync-files-to-onedrive" data-vertical="sai" data-image="https://i.insider.com/5fa0726791178a0019b3dc7b">How to sync files and folders to OneDrive on a PC or Mac computer</a><a data-type="602d892dae885736997d6d90" data-title="How to drag and drop files into OneDrive so you can save and access them in Microsoft's cloud storage" data-url="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-drag-and-drop-files-into-onedrive" data-vertical="sai" data-image="https://i.insider.com/602d8ecb42b84000192f4129">How to drag and drop files into OneDrive so you can save and access them in Microsoft's cloud storage</a></bi-shortcode><p><strong>SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-work-from-home-tech'tht" >29 tech gadgets we use to boost our productivity and comfort when we work from home</a></strong></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-integrate-google-drive-with-microsoft-office#comments">Join the conversation about this story »</a></p>
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