Google Drive Commenting Now Works With Office, PDF Files

Google merely appear a handy new feature that lets yous annotate on Microsoft Function, PDF, and epitome files correct from Drive.

"When you're collaborating with an external agency, negotiating a contract with a client or coordinating a sales agreement with a supplier, chances are you're dealing with multiple file formats," Google Drive Production Manager Birkan Icacan and Software Engineer Eric Zhang wrote in a Wednesday blog post. "With this update, you tin can now annotate on those files in Drive the way yous're used to in Google Docs."

So, if a colleague sends you a Microsoft Office file like a Word certificate, Excel spreadsheet, or PowerPoint presentation, for instance, you can open up information technology in Drive and add your feedback via the preview pane without having to switch to some other tool or convert the file to a Google format such as a Physician, Sheet, or Slide.

"In the Drive preview pane, comment, assign tasks, or mention coworkers and the people you work can reply dorsum, even if they're not using G Suite," Icacan and Zhang wrote. Then, when you send it back, your colleague can open it in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint and "volition see your comment in the file and can answer right from there."

The same is true for other pop file formats such as PDF documents and image files.

This new feature comes after Google in December concluded support for its Bulldoze apps for Mac and PC ahead of a full shutdown on March 12. Google is axing those desktop apps to make style for Backup and Sync (consumers) and Drive File Stream (enterprise). To download Backup and Sync or Drive File Stream, caput here.

Near Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo is PCMag's expert on fitness and smart home products. Educational activity yoga for nearly ten years has helped her in evaluating a range of connected health products including fitness trackers, heart rate monitors, rowers, smart scales, stationary bikes, strength preparation machines, treadmills, and more. Angela also tests smart habitation devices from her ranch in Florida, including air purifiers, kitchen appliances, and robot vacuums, just to name a few.