olivetalks

I use Google docs loads. Loads as in:

• 9 out of 10 times I will use Google docs over MS Office or even OpenOffice.org.
• I log in every single day and check/edit a file there at least once every couple of hours.

Reasons to be using Google docs more and more often lately? Two mainly:

1. I travel quite a bit, and it is handy not to have to connect an external hard-disk to work on my files, have to update the versions I left at the office when I go back, etc. (Obviously, the drawback of always needing Internet is there).
2. I collaborate with different people on different projects, and Google docs allows me to share each document with only the appropriate people and we can all work on the same file.

Anyone that works with computers on a daily basis is aware that files can be lost, damaged, etc. For this reason, backups are very important. We do not always make them (and cry because of it when we lose the files) but we know we should make them.

As my use of Google docs increased, so did my fear of losing all these files. Google docs is a brilliant free service. Not only because it is free, but because things happen, the files stored in Google docs could disappear one day suddenly and I would be… let’s say… in a pickle.

So, from time to time, I would go to each document I was specially scared of losing, and did the usual:

File --> Download file as  for documents
File --> Export for spreadsheets

and saved a copy of the file on my laptop as a backup.

Ok… no biggie… unless you have 250 files. And you want to make a backup of all 250 files on a regular basis…

So today I  finally decided to stop postponing the inevitable and did some searching. Reading around I learnt about about a few tools you could install (if you had Windows) and/or paid.  Most of them, additionally, mass downloaded only doc files, as in no spreadsheets nor presentations. Of my 250 files, I would say > 200 are spreadsheets…

Luckily (as in, I was almost about to give up), I found this brilliant post HOW TO: Use Web-Based Office Tools Offline which talks about several Online Office applications:

• ThinkFree Office
• Zoho
• Google Docs

And then as an after thought has:

• Two Ways to Export Everything Out of Google Docs
  • Firefox Script Method
  • Free Online Backup Method (Syncplicity is a backup service)

Being a Firefox user myself, I read that Firefox Script Method to download files from Google Docs avidly. I followed their straight forward instructions and… voilà!  45 minutes later I had all 250 files on my laptop.

You might think 45 minutes are still many minutes, but you see, I have the files sorted in files, and the  Firefox Script Method’s one glitch (that I have noticed so far) is that it does not like Google docs folders. So I had to go folder by folder. Luckily I had 15+ files per folder… Add to this that between each download I got entertained looking at other stuff, and you will agree that the 45 minutes for 250 files is an upper limit. Its 20 seconds per file, not bad… Not convinced? Let me do a tiny test. I will do the experiment with 5 files, ok?

method 1:

1. marked one of the five files (without opening it)
2. went to Google docs’ top menu: More Actions --> Save As (and chose xls or doc accordingly)
3. saved file on my laptop
4. unmarked file in Google docs
5. repeat steps 1 to 4 with the other four files

Time taken: 1 minute (20 seconds per file).
Level of annoyance = high (result of being bored of repeating the same procedure over and over).

method 2:

1. mark all five files to be downloaded (Select: All at the bottom of the page)
2. go to Download Your Documents --> as Microsoft Office files
3. Right-click --> DownThemAll!
4. Press Start

Time taken: 27 seconds.
Level of annoyance = none (it would be low if I had files in several folders, as I would have to repeat the same process for each folder).

So, how does one install this mass Google docs download application? Now, time for a bit of “choose your own adventure”…

• If you are familiar with Firefox Add-ons and Scripts, follow the clear and straight forward instructions by Doriano “Paisano” Carta 
• If you are not familiar with Firefox Add-ons and/or prefer more step by step instructions, go to How to backup / download more than one Google doc at a time (part 2).