Work on Office Documents without having Microsoft Office

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To write a Word document, Excel and PowerPoint, open, modify, no need to install Microsoft Office on your computer, your browser is enough!

Google offers free service for documents that offers a word processor compatible with Word, a picture compatible with Excel and software compatible with PowerPoint presentations.

Combined with a free Google account, documents and allows you to create new documents, import existing documents, storing them online, working on the go and retrieve them anytime, anywhere when.

Documents To use, you must have a Google account (free), as well as a recent browser such as Internet Explorer 6, 7 or Firefox 1.5 or higher.

Note that if the service is totally free, some restrictions apply: the file size is thus limited to 1 MB (10 MB for presentations) and you can store up to 5000 files.

Once your documents are created, you can at any time to share with other users, to work on it more. You can then export them to your computer, to save them to PDF example.

Open a Google Account:

Like most Google services, documents requires that you have a Google Account. If you already have an account, you can skip to the next step. Otherwise, you must create one for free. Here is how to do the same:

• In your Web browser, go to the address http://docs.google.com .
• Then click the Create an Account button.
• Fill out the form that appears not omitting your current email address.
• Check the box Check this box ... then finally click on the Agree button. Create an account.
  
• Then open your email. You have received an email from Google to confirm your registration. Open the message and then click the link that appears.
  
• Your account is now activated. Close your browser.

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Read and edit an existing document:

You have received a Word document, Excel or PowerPoint email. Save it to your hard drive and then launch your web browser. Log in to your account then Google.

• Once identified and redirected to Google Docs, click the Import button.
  
  
• Click the Browse button.
  
  
• Locate the file to open it on your hard drive and then click the Open button.
  
  
• Then click the Upload file button.
  
  
• Your document is then added to your list of documents online and then opened.
  
  
• It'll just change it then save it to the end of work by clicking on the Save button and close.

Create a new document:

Google Docs lets you create new documents of different types: text, spreadsheets and presentations. To do so, follow these steps:

• Log in to your Google Docs account.
  
  
• Click the Create button.
  
  
• Then select the type of document to create, for example, document a text document.
  
  
• A new window will open on the word processor. You can then create the new document, like using software on your computer.
  
  
• Once your document is finished (and frequently to avoid losses in case of failure), click the Save button to save your changes.

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Arrange and Analyze your documents:

As and when you create or import documents on Google Docs, you may have trouble seeing you there. The solution: store your documents, use the filters and operate the search tool.

• Log in to your Google account.
  
  
• Click the Create button.
  
  
• Then click on the File command.
  
  
• A new folder is added to the list all files. Click it.
  
  
• Click on his name in the blue bar.
  
  
• You can then change the name of your choice.
  
  
• Click on the Add a description, then enter a description of the file.
  
  
• Click on the link Select a color and choose the color to associate with the file.
  
  
• Then repeat the process for other folders you want to create.
  
  
• To move a document, check its box, then click the Move command.
  
  
• Then select the folder to move the document and then click Move to Folder.

To check a document, type your keywords in the Search field. To refine your search, click on Show search options. Complete then various information about the document you are looking for, such as its type, date, etc.. hen click the Search button documents. The documents found are displayed.

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Retrieve a document:

Google Docs allows you to easily retrieve a file on your hard disk for printing or archiving for example. You can export your documents in Office formats, OpenOffice and even PDF.

• In the list of documents from Google Docs, select the check box to retrieve the documents.
  
  
• Click on the More Actions.
  
  
• Then choose from the list that appears on the file format to recover, Save in Word for example.
  
  
• Click the Save button.
  
  
• Choose a location on your hard disk where to put the file, change the name if necessary and then click Save.
  
  
• The file is then downloaded and saved on your computer.

Share a document:

If you want someone else to view or modify a document, you can share it.

• From the main page of Google Docs, click the checkbox to the left of the file name to share.
  
  
• Click the Share button.
  
  
• For the person with whom you share the document can edit the file, select the option as collaborators, otherwise select As readers.
  
  
• Then enter the email address of the person.
  
  
• Finally click Invite collaborators.
  
  
• Enter a message to invite your friend and click the Send button.
  
  
• Your friend will receive a message containing a link. It can simply click on it to view and edit the document. Note that it does not have a Google Account, it will create one. Free of course!
  
  
• The changes made by your friend will appear in your document.