There’s a new browser extension that allows you to open documents from Google Drive in Word which is installed on your system.
But why would you want to use such an extension? Of course, if most of your work is stored on the Web, then open these documents with your desktop apps is much faster compared to having to move through Windows Explorer and open a file of your choice.
However, it’s anything but easy to install this browser. So, here are the steps involved:
#1: Install Google Drive
First, you need to get the Google Drive desktop app that is very similar to Dropbox and which places a Drive folder in Windows Explorer while syncing it with the folder’s file in Google Drive. Most Google users will have this app installed but if you don’t, it’s a good idea to wait for Drive to sync with your desktop first before proceeding to the next step.
#2: Get the Extension and Google Drive’s latest version
The next step involves installing Google Application Launcher for Drive from the Chrome Web Store. Once this is done, open Google Drive in Chrome and then check to see if you are using the latest version of the web app. If you aren’t, then look for an option to switch at the top of the Google Drive dashboard.
Now right-click on any file that isn’t in the Google Drive format such as Excel sheet, Word document or even a photo and select the corresponding desktop app you’d like to open it with.
Please remember that you cannot open a document created in Google’s formats for obvious reasons.