Export (download) multiple files from Google Docs

In a previous post, I shared the process used to upload multiple files (.doc, pdf, odt, etc) to Google Docs. Next, let’s learn how to download (export) one, a series, or all documents. Why would we want to do this? Backup, backup, backup. Even though most of us trust Google’s cloud, there is still no reason you shouldn’t download these files on a regular basis for those “just in case” moments. Learn how after the click...

Download single/multiple files:
:: Enter docs.google.com into your browser address bar

:: If you haven’t logged into your account, do so using the Google login screen – the Google Docs files listings page will be displayed

:: In the All items area (or the My Folders area if you selected a specific folder of files) click in the checkboxes next to the files to download as demonstrated in the image below

:: Click the More actions button – a drop-down menu will be displayed as shown in the image above
:: Select the Export… option as highlighted in the image above – the Convert, Zip, and Download Files window will appear as shown below

:: In the Convert, Zip, and Download Files window, review the default file formats automatically chosen – the default are MS Office formats
:: If you want to change the format for all of the files to be exported, select either the OpenOffice formats link or the PDF formats link
:: If you want to change the file formats for individual file types, use the drop-down menus to manually make the selections as highlighted in the image below

:: Once the file format selections have been made, click the Continue button at the bottom-left of the Convert, Zip, and Download Files window – the Zipping Files window will appear as shown in the image below – if a small number of files are to be exported, this window will only be displayed for a few seconds

During this process, the Google servers convert and compress the Google Docs files into a single .zip file  that is later downloaded.

:: At the bottom left of the Zipping Files window are three options that can be selected during the export process:

• Select the Email when ready button to have an e-mail sent to your Google Docs registered e-mail address when the process is complete – convenient when large file selections are made
• Select the Cancel file zipping button to cancel the current process entirely and return to the document listing page
• Select the Start over button to return to the Convert, Zip, and Download Files window and reselect the formats without having to reselect the files

:: When the process is complete, the Zipping Complete window will appear as shown in the image above
:: The .zip file containing all of the documents should begin downloading automatically to your browser’s default download location
:: If the file download does not start automatically, select the click her to download button as pointed out in the image above
:: Locate the single .zip file download – the file name will resemble documents-export-2009-11-08.zip with the only modification being the date appended to the file name
:: To extract the documents within the file, simply double-click on the file

That's a pretty lengthy process, but Google Docs makes it easy if you just take your time and review each window carefully.

Download all files

You may want to download all files at once and then place them in a safe location such as: burning them to a CD/DVD, placing them on a shared network drive, or using another online service such as iDisk or Dropbox. Instead of running down the list of files checking each one individually:

:: Click the Select all visible option as highlighted in the image below – all the files in the listing will be selected

:: After making this selection, continue the previously described process by selecting the More actions button and selecting the Export… options

There you have it. The ins and out of exporting your files off of the Google cloud and onto your desktop. Consider downloading all of your documents weekly or monthly. Add a Google Calendar event now to remind you. Go ahead, do it now. I’ll wait…done? Good for you!

I don’t know about you, but having my Google Docs safely stored in another location gives me a nice warm safe data fuzzy feeling inside. So where do you save your backups? Have another way to get your files out of the cloud and onto your desktop? Add to this note by leaving a comment below.