New ways to comment on non-Google files in Google Drive

February 26, 2018

Google is making it possible to comment directly on more file types including Microsoft Office files, PDFs and images—without having to convert them into Docs, Sheets or Slides.

This update enables commenting on non-Google files in Drive the way you're used to in Google Docs. In the Drive preview pane, comment, assign tasks, or mention coworkers and they can reply back, even if they’re not using G Suite. When commenting in Drive preview, you don’t need to open up other tools to complete tasks. To comment, open Microsoft Office files, like Word, Excel and PowerPoint, in Drive preview and give feedback in comments.

If you find you would rather convert your non-Google files, go to Google Drive, right click on your Office file and click Open with and then select Docs (or Sheets or Slides). Or, you can choose to edit Microsoft files without converting them fully using Office Compatibility Mode (OCM.)

This update will be slowly rolling out on the UMICH domain.