• you need to be able to download more than one file from Google docs at a time (part 1)
• you have already installed the Firefox extensions needed to do it (part 2)
• the instructions on how to download the files, by Doriano “Paisano” Carta, are, albeit brilliant, too concise for your taste.

Good reasons. Ok, then, here we go.

Summary of the steps to follow:

1. mark all files to be downloaded (Select:All at the bottom of the page)
2. go to Download Your Documents

3. Select the format you want the files to be downloaded in

4. Righ-click --> DownThemAll!
5. Press Start

Where is what?

Once inside Google docs (apologies for the duhism…):

Step 1:  mark all files to be downloaded (see num 1 in Image 1)

You can find Select: All at the bottom of the screen.

Step 2:  go to Download Your Documents (see num 2 in Image 1)

This is at the top right corner of the Google docs menu (not of Firefox, where I was initially looking… sigh…)

Step 3: choose the format for your documents (see num 3 in Image 1)

You can choose among a number of options, including Microsoft Office, OpenOffice.org, csv and pdf.

Image 1: Click on it to see larger (clearer) version:

Step 4: Download them all

After choosing the format, you will be sent to a new page where you will see your documents (see Image 2).

Image 2

On this page:

• Right-click with your mouse
• Choose DownThemAll!...

Image 3 shows the new window that will appear.

Image 3

Step 5: In the DownThemAll window

In the DownThemAll window (Image 3) make sure you have the options of Image 4 ticked (specially All files…)

Image 4

Choose where do you want it to download your files (press the folder to browse your computer) and then Start.

A window like the one in Image 5 will let you know when is the process finished.

Image 5

The end!

PS. I wish to thank the following people for their time and effort.

• Doriano “Paisano” Carta
• The authors of Greasemonkey
• Peter Shafer for his Google Docs: Download Greasemonkey Script
• The authors of DownThemAll
• And of course, the people in charge of Google docs and Firefox!

Thanks to all of you, my job is a lot easier.

Related post(s)

• How to backup / download more than one Google doc at a time (part 2) (1)
• How to backup / download more than one Google doc at a time (part 1) (0)
• Nuke your city (2)
• Do you RAID? (part 2) (0)
• Do you RAID? (part 1) (3)

• searched for something like ”mass download Google docs”
• you feel you are not familiar enough with Firefox Add-ons and/or prefer more step by step instructions and followed the link from How to backup / download more than one Google doc at a time (part 1)

If the former, I would suggest you visit part 1 of this post, specially if you are familiar with Firefox Add-ons and want straightforward instructions. If the latter, welcome to the step by step installation of the applications that will allow you to mass download files from Google docs (regardless of whether they are documents, spreadsheets or presentations).

Step 1: Make sure you have Firefox 3

To check, go to Help --> About Mozilla Firefox.
If it says 2.whatever, update!

Step 2: Install the Greasemonkey Add-on (extension)

Which means,

• in Firefox, go to Tools --> Add-ons
• In the Add-ons windows (see Image 1) search for Greasemonkey
• Press Add to Firefox…
• Press Install Now

Image 1:

Which means:

• Go to http://1st-soft.net/gdd/ and press Install Now
• Greasemonkey will open a window and you have to press Install again.

Step 4: Install the DownThemAll Firefox extension

Which means:

• in Firefox, again, go to Tools --> Add-ons
• In the Add-ons windows (see Image 2) search for Downthemall
• Press Add to Firefox…
• Press Install Now

Image 2

How? Oh, another bit of “choose your own adventure”…

• If you are familiar with Google docs, follow the clear and straightforward instructions by Doriano “Paisano” Carta 
• If you are not so familiar with Google docs and/or prefer more step by step instructions, go to How to backup / download more than one Google doc at a time (part 3).

Related post(s)

• How to backup / download more than one Google doc at a time (part 3) (0)
• How to backup / download more than one Google doc at a time (part 1) (0)
• Nuke your city (2)
• Do you RAID? (part 2) (0)
• Do you RAID? (part 1) (3)

• 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).

Related post(s)

• How to backup / download more than one Google doc at a time (part 3) (0)
• How to backup / download more than one Google doc at a time (part 2) (1)
• Nuke your city (2)
• Do you RAID? (part 2) (0)
• Do you RAID? (part 1) (3)