How to Save a Google Doc

Written by Jack Lloyd

Last Updated: February 9, 2022 Tested

This wikiHow teaches you how to save a Google Docs document. While Google Docs will automatically save your file in Google Drive as soon as you stop working on it, you can also save a copy of a shared Google Docs file into your Google Drive folder or save the Google Docs file onto your computer.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Saving a Document

1
Open Google Docs. Go to https://docs.google.com/document/ in your computer's web browser. This will prompt your list of Google Docs documents to open if you're logged into your Google account.
- If you aren't logged into your Google account, enter your email address and password when prompted before continuing.
2
Open or create a document. Double-click an existing document to open it, or click Blank in the upper-left side of the page to create a new document.

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3
Add information to the document if needed. If you want to add content to the document before saving it, do so now.
- You can add a title to the document by selecting the title in the upper-left corner of the page and typing in your preferred title.
4
Wait for confirmation that your changes have been saved. Once you finish adding information, look for the phrase "All changes saved in Drive" at the top of the page. It will appear after a couple of seconds.
- Once you see this confirmation, your document has been saved.
5
Change the document's save location. If you want to save your document in a specific folder in your Google Drive account, click the Folder
icon in the upper-left side of the page, then do the following:
- Select a folder into which you want to move the file (you can double-click a folder to open it).
- Click Move here at the bottom of the menu.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Saving a Shared Document

1
Open Google Docs. Go to https://docs.google.com/document/ in your computer's web browser. This will prompt your list of Google Docs documents to open if you're logged into your Google account.
- If you aren't logged into your Google account, enter your email address and password when prompted before continuing.
2
Select the shared document. Double-click the document which you want to save to your own Drive.
3
Click File. It's in the top-left corner of the page. A drop-down menu will appear.
4
Click Make a copy. You'll find this option in the File drop-down menu. Doing so prompts a pop-up window.
5
Enter a new name. Type your preferred name for the file into the text box at the top of the pop-up window. This is the name the file will have when saved to your Drive.
6
Click OK. It's at the bottom of the window. The file will be saved to your Google Drive account with full read and write permissions.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Downloading a Google Doc

1
Open Google Docs. Go to https://docs.google.com/document/ in your computer's web browser. This will prompt your list of Google Docs documents to open if you're logged into your Google account.
- If you aren't logged into your Google account, enter your email address and password when prompted before continuing.
2
Open a document. Double-click the document that you want to download to open it.
3
Click File. It's in the top-left corner of the page. A drop-down menu will appear.
4
Select Download as. This option is near the top of the drop-down menu. Doing so prompts a pop-out menu to appear.
5
Select your preferred file format. For most Google Docs documents, clicking either Microsoft Word (.docx) or PDF Document (.pdf) will be sufficient.
- If you're on a Mac which doesn't have Microsoft Word installed, you can use Pages to open a Microsoft Word file.
6
Wait for your file to download. After a few seconds, your document will download onto your computer in your selected file format.
- Depending on your browser's settings, you may first have to select a save location and click Save.

Community Q&A

Question

Do documents automatically save in Google Docs?

wikiHow Staff Editor
Staff Answer
This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

wikiHow Staff Editor

Staff Answer

Yes, documents you are writing actively are automatically saved in Google Docs as you work on them.
Question

How do I save a document in Google Docs?

wikiHow Staff Editor
Staff Answer
This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

wikiHow Staff Editor

Staff Answer

You can save a document in Google Docs by waiting for the "Saving" icon to automatically save your document. For more details with images, including saving a document somewhere specific and saving a shared document, see the steps above. If you’re working offline, you’ll need to set up the ability for offline changes to be kept.
Question

How do I save a document in Google Drive?

wikiHow Staff Editor
Staff Answer
This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

wikiHow Staff Editor

Staff Answer

Open your document first. Then click on the Folder icon in the top left hand corner of your Google document page layout. Next, choose the place where you want the document to be saved to (the drop-down menu will provide all the options), click Move Here and the document will be saved where you want it. All other saves after this will be automatic.