Home Google Tips and Tricks TCEA Responds: Making Copies of Google Docs

TCEA Responds: Making Copies of Google Docs

by Miguel Guhlin
iPads

Dear TCEA Responds:

Thank you, TCEA TechNotes blog, for supplying me daily with useful tips and tricks. I love the Google templates you share. When I try to click on the link, it takes me to a Make a Copy page. Nothing happens from there. Will you please check the hyperlink? Is this normal?

-Lisa

Dear Lisa:

Thanks so much for your kind words and feedback. As you know, we work hard to create resources educators can use right away. One way to do that involves using Google (a.k.a. G Suite EDU) templates. My goal for this blog entry is that you will know what to do when you encounter some of the many shared Google Docs online.  For example, Hyperdocs.co is one online space where these are shared.

Here are a few TCEA blog entries that share Google templates:

Wait, wait! I bet you are planning to click on these links. But are you ready to receive? Let’s explore how you can embrace all of this awesomeness in an informed way.

Watch the Video

You can read the blog entry, or watch this short video tutorial.

Check out even more resources online via this link; scroll down to see them

First Things First: Be Ready to Receive

Please note that templates need you to first log in with your G Suite EDU or Google account. That is, in your browser (e.g. Chrome or Chromium-based), you should have logged into a Google account. This can be a work (G Suite EDU) or personal (free Google account as part of your Gmail) account.

TCEA Responds

Sharing Options

Anyone who has a Google account has sharing options. We can choose to share individual templates with the options shown below. If we have a LOT of templates or documents, we can share an entire folder in Google Drive. Let’s explore what each of these look like and what you can do to get what others offer.

Steps to Take

To get these templates for your own use, you will need to take these steps:

1-Log in to your Google account (school or personal)
2-Click on the links above for what you want, such as the Google Slide Scavenger Hunt link

When someone shares a Google Doc/Slides/Sheets document with you, you often have the option to go to FILE->MAKE A COPY. It looks like this:

TCEA Responds

People who share Google Docs want to make it easier for you. They don’t want you to go hunting for FILE->MAKE A COPY. They want you to get their file in one quick click. Where does the copy end up? It ends up in your Google Drive.

When someone wants to share a Google Doc/Slides/Sheets document with you, they can save it in several ways.  For the links you click on, you are likely to encounter one of these three options.

Option 1: Make a Copy

When somebody shares a “MAKE A COPY” link, they are trying to save you a step. The person sharing assumes you want a copy of the document. So they take the traditional SHARE link and change one word. Instead of edit, they type in copy.

Original Share Link

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SO_iWam1VQ33WU082Rj3BRsQj5PzkrC8kZ-uyLvujkM/edit?usp=sharing

TCEA Responds

In this image, you are in VIEW mode. To get a copy of this document saved to your Google Drive, you will need to go to FILE->MAKE A COPY. You can change the name at the moment you decide to make a copy, as well as save it to a specific folder in your Google Drive.

TCEA Responds

Revised link for Make a Copy version

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SO_iWam1VQ33WU082Rj3BRsQj5PzkrC8kZ-uyLvujkM/copy?usp=sharing

You can see that the ONLY change is adjusting the link to reflect the word copy instead of edit. You can see from the screenshot underneath each that you get a different result. In the image shown below, you will not see the content of the page, only the option to make a copy. This eliminates a few steps outlined above. The goal is to make the process easier on you to get a copy of this document saved to your Google Drive. Keep in mind though that this doesn’t allow you to preview the template/document before downloading a copy.

TCEA Responds

That’s it for Option A: Make a Copy. You should now have a copy of the template in your Google Drive.

Option B: Use a Template

This is another way someone who wants to share a Google document with you can use. The benefit of this option is that before you click on “USE TEMPLATE” button, you get to see a preview. This preview assists you in deciding if you are getting what you want.

This is like Make A COPY. Notice what the link appears as. As you can see, instead of the whole copy or edit area, you see template/preview. This is the key to make your own Google documents available as templates that others can get.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_he0bPcUnPbs4FLxGbHYUMcZT0ZNu-GWsL6JEvha76I/template/preview

When you click on the link, you will see the following:

The result is the same as the previous option though. When you click on USE TEMPLATE button, you will get the chance to save it in your Google Drive.

Option C: Folder/Directory of Documents

What happens when the person sharing with you has a folder (a.k.a. directory) of content to share with you in Google Drive? It may look like this:

TCEA Responds

Or, if you are NOT logged into a Google account, like this:

TCEA Responds

When you go into the folders, you will see individual documents. For example, you can see a list of infographic templates for Google Slides. There are so many documents, you may not want to grab them one at a time. What you want is the entire folder.

When you encounter a folder share like this, you will need to get a copy of the entire folder. Here’s how to do that:

TCEA Responds

As you can see, you can choose to ADD TO MY DRIVE an entire folder of documents.

These three options make it easier to get a copy of the templates shared. Remember, you must first have a Google account. You will need to log in before you click on a link to a Google Document you want to get. Once you click, realize you will encounter one of the three options discussed above. This primer on getting copies of documents should make getting TCEA templates easier.

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55 comments

Peggy Green June 18, 2020 - 1:06 pm

Thanks this was great information.

Reply
Luis D Ferro August 15, 2020 - 12:30 am

Very useful to know. Thank you!

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Carolyn Barnes June 24, 2020 - 10:11 am

I never knew so much information was available.

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Nancy Sue Smith July 9, 2020 - 8:13 pm

Didn’t know about using a template

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Miguel Guhlin July 10, 2020 - 9:16 am

Nancy Sue, it’s amazing. However, make sure the document you are using as a template is in its final form. The screenshot it grabs is the one it uses, even if you change the form later (or so I noticed…it could have changed since then).

Miguel
🙂

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Carrie July 10, 2020 - 12:57 pm

Thanks for the information.

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Ruthie Mae Long July 13, 2020 - 2:56 pm

Thanks for the helpful information.

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Louann Walker July 14, 2020 - 11:21 am

Thank you for all the info…I will need it.

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Jorge De Alva Cardenas July 14, 2020 - 3:10 pm

Thank you for this information, it is very helpful.

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Janice McDowell July 14, 2020 - 5:32 pm

Thanks for all the information.

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Janice McDowell July 14, 2020 - 5:33 pm

Thank you for all the information.It will be helpful.

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Laren Allen July 15, 2020 - 12:01 pm

This is really good info! Thanks!

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Kelli Jones July 15, 2020 - 7:25 pm

Very helpful. Thank you

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Michael Stone July 16, 2020 - 9:08 am

Very helpful!

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Ines Olvera July 17, 2020 - 9:02 am

Thanks for the information!!

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Debbie Nauert July 17, 2020 - 10:30 am

Never used a template. This will be helpful. Thank you.

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Nikki Picon July 17, 2020 - 3:04 pm

Definitely helpful. Thank you!

Reply
Ruthie Long July 20, 2020 - 9:16 pm

Thanks for the information

Reply
Ruthie Long July 21, 2020 - 1:52 pm

Thank you.

Reply
Maggie McGinness July 21, 2020 - 2:51 pm

Very Helpful! Thank you

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Erika July 21, 2020 - 11:36 pm

Great info!

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Shobha Ilapogu July 24, 2020 - 12:14 am

Thank you for all the useful information.

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KATHY MOORE July 24, 2020 - 12:32 pm

I used a template last night. Worked great

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Maggie McGinness July 26, 2020 - 8:05 pm

I had fun clicking on all the templates.

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Teresa Nors July 26, 2020 - 8:54 pm

Thank you.

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Nicole Venable July 27, 2020 - 11:46 am

I use this tool oftern

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Stephanie July 29, 2020 - 8:40 pm

Thank you for clarifying how to save an entire file.

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Gustavo Vargas July 30, 2020 - 12:33 am

good explanations

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Vicki Stone August 1, 2020 - 2:13 pm

Thank you for the information!

Reply
Shawn Knuckles August 4, 2020 - 12:45 pm

Thanks

Reply
Elizabeth Velasco August 5, 2020 - 4:20 pm

Thank you

Reply
Teresa August 9, 2020 - 12:05 pm

Great resources!

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Scott Stulir August 10, 2020 - 11:35 pm

Thanks

Reply
Janessa August 11, 2020 - 1:35 pm

Great resource! This article has been beneficial to read while learning new information all Google can do! Thank you!

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Vivian Mitchell August 12, 2020 - 2:12 pm

Thanks

Reply
Yenny August 14, 2020 - 12:05 pm

Useful information!
Thanks!

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Scott Stulir August 15, 2020 - 2:37 am

Thank you.

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Veronica August 19, 2020 - 11:19 am

Great…thank you!

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Louella February 22, 2021 - 9:23 am

Thank you

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Robyn Fowler March 16, 2021 - 2:42 pm

Templates was a new idea for me. Thank you

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Brenelsa August 2, 2021 - 6:22 pm

Great information. Thank you.

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J Taub November 9, 2021 - 9:27 pm

This is great information. I have been using Google in my school for a few years now and didn’t realize how much more I can do.

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Rhonda Rawlins January 4, 2022 - 11:50 am

This information is very good. I still need to view the video again to be confident that I am following the steps correctly.

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Penny M Comes March 18, 2022 - 7:55 am

This was great I learned alot.

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Miguel Guhlin March 18, 2022 - 7:57 am

Thanks, Penny. Glad to see it was helpful.

Miguel

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Donald Hoaglander July 19, 2022 - 6:07 am

I found the information very helpful.

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Rene July 28, 2022 - 3:21 pm

Great information. Thank you.

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Nina Crupiti-Kanjo September 14, 2022 - 7:25 am

Great information and super detailed steps. Thank you!

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Mike Calandra September 20, 2022 - 8:51 am

Very helpful! Copy feature will serve me well with my co-teacher.

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Miguel Guhlin September 20, 2022 - 9:43 am

Awesome, Mike. Glad to hear it. It’s an invaluable feature that Google has made essential to online collaborators, for colleagues and their students alike.

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Gloria Lujan December 2, 2022 - 1:43 pm

thank you

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Milissa Johnson April 10, 2023 - 11:04 am

This information was new to me and very helpful. Thank you

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Miguel Guhlin April 10, 2023 - 11:12 am

Awesome, Milissa! Thanks for letting me know.

With appreciation,
Miguel

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Elizabeth Diane Mendez December 7, 2023 - 8:43 am

This lesson gave me alot of insight into how Google Docs works.

Reply
Miguel Guhlin December 7, 2023 - 9:23 am

Thanks, Elizabeth! Glad you found it helpful.

Reply

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