3 Useful Google Docs Desktop Tools

Google docs, the popular online office application by Google has some useful desktop utilities. You can manage Google documents using an Adobe Air app, access Google docs from Firefox sidebar or use a tiny desktop utility to upload documents.

Google docs is a part of my blogging toolkit. Whenever i am away from my computer and an idea hits, I use Google docs to post Blog entries. Following are three desktop utilities for Google docs which we recommend:

GMDesk – Adobe Air Google docs application

GMDesk is an awesome Adobe Air app that can be used to work with your Google documents, Gmail, Google Calendar, Google maps, Google reader and Picasa Web albums. Using this application you can view your Google documents and access other Google services, without requiring a web browser.

How GMDesk Works

Start the application and sign in with your Google username and password. The interface is entirely similar with the browser GUI and you would feel that you are using a web browser instead of a desktop application.

This is how the compose window of a Google word  document looks inside GMDesk :

Similarly you can access all the other Google services from GMDesk. This includes : Google calendar, Maps, Google Reader, Youtube etc. The only disturbing thing is that every service opens in a new pop up window. So if you want to check your email at Gmail, write a document at Google docs or watch a video at Youtube, you will have 3 instances of GMDesk running.

If you do not like using a cluttered browser while writing a document at Google docs, try GMDesk for a clean writing environment.

Note : The developer claims that GMDesk supports Google apps accounts. However i could not get it working with my Google apps account.

GDocs – Manage Google documents from Firefox Sidebar

The GDocs extension adds a sidebar in Firefox from where you can manage your Google documents effectively. You can search documents, sort them by type, date and author and also view specific folders. Here is how the interface of GDocs looks :

Word documents, spreadsheets and presentations are organized in separate tabs and they don’t huddle together. You can search for a particular document from the search bar and upload a new document by a simple drag and drop. Easy interface but then again if you want to create or edit a new document a new tab opens. This extension can be useful when you want to keep an eye on your Google documents without requiring to keep a tab open all the time in your browser.

Google Docs Uploader – Upload Files to your Google Docs Account from desktop

Google docs uploader let’s you upload documents to your Google docs account from desktop. It is a portable application and does not require any installation. So you can put it in your usb drive and use it anywhere you like.

Here is how the Google docs uploader looks

This desktop tool can add an option in your right click context menu as “Send to Google docs”. This allows you to upload documents to Google docs from desktop quite easily. To upload a file, just drag and drop the file into the uploader.

Download Google docs uploader. ( Requires NET Framework 2.0.)

Google docs desktop gadget for Google desktop

If you love using Google desktop then you can try using the desktop gadget . It let’s you search and open your Google documents from desktop.

To upload a document, just drag and drop the document into the gadget window. It also allows bulk uploading of documents so if you have a large number of documents to upload, this gadget will come in handy.