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Editing Shared Documents in Google Drive

Editing Shared Documents in Google Drive

Audience: Staff, students

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to show how to collaborate using Google Docs, including how to use a shared document without modifying the original.

Editing Shared Documents

  • Often Google Docs are used and shared because they are great for collaborative work.

    • When one user makes a change on the document, it is visible and saved for all users.

  • If a Google Doc is shared with you and you want to make your own changes to it without making a change to the original document, you must make a copy of the document.

 

Creating a copy

  1. Right-click on the document and select Make a copy.

    1. This will create a new file called Copy of (Document Title Here) in your Google Drive.

    2. Any changes that you make to the copy will only be reflected on your copy, and not on the original shared document. 

  2. Right-click on the document and select Download.

    1. This will download the document to your computer and allow you to open it in a different program such as Microsoft Word.

    2. You can then make your own changes to the document without changing the original document.