Friday, July 29th, 2011

How to: Use Google Docs in Box

By , Social Media Manager

As you may know, we recently announced a new integration that allows all our users to take advantage of Google Docs right from their Box account. If you spend your work day creating and editing lots of content (like me!), using this new feature will make your job a breeze, since you can use Google Docs’ robust features to do all your editing instead of fussing with constant uploads and downloads.

This update also introduces “concurrent editing,” a neat feature that allows you to edit documents with other collaborators in real-time. If you prefer to stick with traditional files types, we still have you covered – Google Docs allows you to edit all your existing .xls and.doc files on Box.

Here’s how to get started:

After logging into Box, click the “New” button, then click “New Google Doc” or “New Google Spreadsheet.”

Next, create a name for your document and choose “Okay.”

After this step, you may be asked to sign into your Google Account. Note: if you use Gmail, you already have a Google Account, so just type in your Gmail username and password. If you need to set one up, click here. Once you sign in, choose “Grant Access.” and you’re done! Now you can edit and use Google Docs in your account.

How to use concurrent editing:

Google Docs also allows you to simultaneously edit a document with your collaborators. When you or another collaborator is working on a file in Google Docs, you’ll see an icon next to the document.

This indicates that the file is already open, but that you can join in to edit. To join the file, click the menu button on the right side of the file and choose “Edit” from the drop-down menu.

Using Google Docs to edit other Files

Google Docs also allows you to edit your existing .doc and .xls files. Simply click the menu button on the right side of the file and choose “Edit with Google Docs” from the “More Actions” menu.

This new feature has saved me tons of time, so I’m sure you and your team will find it extremely useful!  If you’d like to see Google Docs+Box in action, check out our video. And if you’re not using Box yet, click here to start collaborating and editing in the cloud today. Trust me, it’ll make you more productive than ever :) .

Mark Saldaña

By ,

Social Media Manager

See all of Mark's articles.

  • Rachel

    Is there a way to upload existing google docs into box? Or, do you have to create a new google doc from box directly?

  • Jane

    As per Rachel’s question below, is there a way to upload existing Gdocs into Box and then start accessing them that way??

  • Mike

    The first thing I tried to do with this was to access my current google docs. Let me know when you can do that, thanks!

  • Andrew

    I have 100′s of Goggle Docs and now I have “linked” my Google Docs and Box.net accounts together. Sweet! BUT Useless thus far. How can I get all my G-Docs into my Box.net account?

  • Mfuggle

    I need the same functionality – to be able to load existing Google Docs into Box.net

  • Assaf Rapoport

    I may be stupid, but I still can’t figure what the difference is between the mighty Google Docs and Box.net! what feature don’t I have with Docs that I do get with Box? I can share items with whomever I need with Docs as well, I can have 2 or more collaborator edit a single file simultaneously using Google Cloud Connect and store all those file at the same place.

    Can someone please explain to me what is the added value of Box.net? I’m seriously baffled (and I’ve been testing Box for more than a week now). Everybody here and on other blogs talks about this thing as a time saver etc. – please would somebody explain?
    Thank you in advance!

    • Darren

      What if someone doesn’t have a Google account, but can access Box.net with their other email. You can them both share and collaborate on share documents without having to create a new email account. Example, corporate email and consultant. I am a fan of Google and their suite of apps, but recognize the benefit of having something like Box.net. Not to mention, they are offering 50GB of storage for free right now. No one else does that.

  • Andrewmcelyea

    Mark, I see the same question asked by 5 people with no reply. Can you advise if (or when) you can UPLOAD (not create) Google Docs into Box?

    I have 100′s of G-Docs and have found box useless without a way to import them. I really do not want two places to store, retrieve and collaborate my docs.

    What is the future of importing existing Google docs into Box.net?

    Thanks

  • Mark Saldana

    Hi Andrew (and everyone else below):

    Apologies for the very delayed response! As of right now, there’s no way to import your Google Docs into Box, at least not directly. You can, of course, download your docs, then re-upload them to Box and they should work just fine.

    We definitely hear you, and are working on a solution. Sorry for any inconvenience.

    Best,

    Mark

    • JMulv

      Another option – sign up to SMEStorgage.com and simply drag n drop your files between providers.

      Gladinet something else to consider, but not SaaS like SMEStorage

    • Whodi

      Hi
      Is this still pending to be sorted? or is it now sorted? (Uploading existing google docs to box)
      Please advise. Thanks