Google Docs is a wonderful free online alternative to Microsoft Word, but if you ever need to email a Google Doc to someone, it can feel a bit confusing.
Because Google Docs is online, there isn’t a file already saved to your computer that you can just attach to the email like there is with Microsoft Word. But there are actually a few really easy options for emailing a Google Doc, so in this article, we’re going to discuss all the different options.
There are 4 different ways you can email a Google Doc, two of them involve converting the Google Doc to a different file like a Microsoft Word Document or a PDF, these two ways can be really good if you’re sending it to someone who might not use Google Docs, or someone who has specifically requested a certain file type.
The other two ways are to send it within Google Docs, which can be helpful because you will get all the cool Google Docs features, but if you send it to someone who has never used Google Docs before, they might find it a bit confusing.
Prefer to watch a video tutorial on how to email a Google Doc? Click here.
How to Send a Google Doc in an Email
For the first method, just open the Google Doc you want to send, click on “File” in the top left-hand corner of the screen, and select “Email as attachment“.
Now, in the popup that appears, click on the drop-down menu to choose the file type you want to convert the doc into (Microsoft Word is usually the best format for most cases).
Then, enter the recipient’s email address into the “To” field, enter whatever you want to be the email subject into the “Subject” field, enter any message you want to add into the “Message” field and click the send button.
Your Google Doc will then be automatically converted into whatever file type you selected and sent as an email to the email address you entered.
This is a very easy method but it does have one drawback, the drawback is that when the recipient receives the email, it will have some Google Docs branding on it and it will actually come from Google, not you.
This is fine if you just want to quickly send a doc to someone, but if you want to send it from your email address and without the Google Docs branding, the second method is for you.
How to Attach a Google Doc to an Email
For the second method, you’ll be able to download the Google Doc to your computer in a file format of your choice, and then attach that file to an email.
To do this, open your Google Doc and click on “file” in the top left-hand corner of the screen, then hover your mouse over “Download” and click on the file type you want to download the document as (Microsoft Word is usually the best format for most cases).
Now, the document should be saved on your computer in the file type you choose, so you can just attach that file to your email. This is a very good method because with little effort, you can send someone the doc with no Google Docs branding and you can also reply to an email with the doc attached.
How to Get a Shareable Link for Google Docs
The third way is to use link sharing in Google docs, this can be very helpful if you don’t know their Gmail address, or you’re replying to an email. You’ll create a special link in Google Docs which you can then paste into an email, and anyone who clicks that link will have access to the document.
To do this, open you’re Google Doc, and click on the “Share” button in the top right-hand corner of the screen.
Then, click “Get shareable link” at the very top of the window that pops up.
It will then create a shareable link and copy it to your computer’s clipboard, by default, the link is set to “can view“, which means that anyone with the link will be able to view and download the doc but they won’t be able to edit it.
This can be good in some situations, but if you want them to be able to edit it, just click on the drop-down menu and choose “can edit“.
Once you’re happy with the settings, just click “done” in the bottom left-hand corner and paste the link into your email.
Just keep in mind that by using link sharing, anyone with that link will be able to access the document, so only send it to people you trust and it’s probably not a good idea to use this method for any document that contains sensitive information.
If you want to send it via Google Docs but want more security, then the next method is probably the way to go.
Click here to learn more about link sharing in Google Docs
How to Share a Google Doc
The fourth and final way is to use Google Docs sharing, this is more secure than link sharing because only the specific people you choose can access it, but you will need to know their Gmail address or the email address that is associated with their Google Account.
To do this, just open your Google Doc and click on the “Share” button in the top right-hand corner.
You’ll now need to enter the email address that is associated with their Google Account, if they have a Gmail address, that will be it but it might also be something else (If you’re not sure, use one of the other three methods above).
Once you’ve entered their address, you’ll need to choose what kind of access you want them to have, by default it is set to “Can edit” which means they will be able to make changes to the Google doc and even share it with other people. If you don’t want them to be able to do this, click on the pencil icon and choose “Can view“.
Once you’re happy with the settings you’ve chosen, click “Done” and the doc will be shared, the person you’ve shared it with will now receive an email saying that you’ve shared the doc with them and they’ll be able to click on a link in the email to open the doc. This makes it nice and easy but it unfortunately means you won’t be able to send it in a reply to an email.
So there you have it, all the different ways of emailing someone a Google Doc, and this isn’t just for Google Docs, you can also use the exact same methods for Google Sheets and Google Slides.
