View Desktop Files using Syncdocs

Google Docs lets you edit most Office format documents. A less well known feature is that it can view, but not edit, even more file formats.

Syncdocs interfaces with this Google Docs viewer. Use Syncdocs as a viewer to view files on your computer.

To View a file:

Simply right click on a file.

Select “View in Google Docs”

Syncdocs opens the file in a browser window. If the file is not already online, it will take a few seconds to upload it to Google first.

Here, the example .zip file is opened and the files inside the .zip file are shown:

What sort of files can I view?

Supported file formats for viewing:

Office Suites

• Office 2007/2010 Word, Excel and Powerpoint .docx, .xlsx, pptx
• Office 95-2003 Word, Excel and Powerpoint .doc, xls, ppt, pps
• Open/Libre Office/Open Document Writer and Calc .odt, ods
• Apple pages.

Electonic Paper

• Adobe portable document format .pdf
• postscript: .ps, .eps
• Microsoft .xps

Images

• most bitmap image formats: .jpg, .bmp, .jpeg, .png
• vector images: .ai, .dxf, .svg, .mwf
• fonts: .ttf

Video

• many video formats .flv, .avi, .mpeg

Archives

•  .zip, .rar – you can view the contents of files inside these archives, too

What are the advantages of viewing files online?

For one, you are protected from viruses and malware that can lurk in Microsoft Office and .pdf documents. The files are safely opened on the Google server, not on your PC.

Secondly, once you’ve viewed the file online, it is accessible from many devices. You can view it on your phone or easily share it with others.

Thirdly, Google Docs has an easy photo album capability. Just click on the “Images & videos” menu to get it. You can use this to organize and view your photos and images.