The Most Important Chrome Extension

Office Editing for Docs, Sheets, and Slides

Get it here: Edit Microsoft Word documents in Google Docs

Up until recently, if you had a Microsoft Word file (extension .doc or .docx) in your Google Drive, the best you do if you wanted to edit it is either open as a Google Doc (converting it into a Google Doc) and work on it in Google Docs, or download it to a computer that has MS Word and open it in Word.

However, with this extension you can open a Word document in Google Docs, edit it, and it will save to your Google Drive as a Word document (extension .doc or .docx), without having been "changed" into a Google Doc.

The only downside is that since you will be working in Google Docs, you will not have all of the advanced features of Word, but you can always open it later in Word if there's something you need to do that Google Docs can't do.

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For the uninitiated:

1. Extensions are small software programs that can modify and enhance the functionality of the Chrome browser. Extensions have little to no user interface.

Meaning - you go to the Chrome store, click on install, and the extensions do their thing without any input from you. Once they're installed, they'll follow you around as long as you're logged in to Google¹ with your school's Google Log-in.

There are some incredible extensions that will allow your Chrome browser to do many useful things, including running programs from your browser² - very important if you are using a Chromebook.³ 

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1. Although I strongly recommend using the Chrome browser, in any browser, go to Google.com, and in the upper right-hand corner, click Sign In. Use your mjbha.org e-mail and password. You are now "signed in" to Google.

2. A browser is what you use to get on the internet - Chrome, Internet Explorer, etc. 

3. A Chromebook is like a laptop, only you can't install programs on it; everything runs in the Chrome browser window.