How many hours could you save if you could comment on Microsoft documents uploaded to Google Drive? Thanks to the Google Drive interoperability feature in G Suite, you can easily comment on Office files, PDFs, and images without converting from one format to the other or installing Microsoft Office.

How to Comment on Office Files With Google Drive

You can open and comment on a shared Microsoft file in Google Drive and the comments will appear when you or someone opens it in Microsoft Office. The feature works in the Drive Preview mode. The steps are simple:

  1. Log in to Google Drive.
  2. Double-click the shared Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file you want to comment on. It opens in the Preview mode.
  3. At the top right, click Add comment (the plus sign). Click the text, cell, or section you want to comment on.
    G Suite and Microsoft Comments
  4. Enter your comment and click Comment.
  5. Your team can see the updated file and the comments when they open the file.

This isn't the same thing as real-time comments and collaboration as you have to open the file to see updated comments. But it helps avoid the extra step of converting Microsoft files into Google files!

You can comment on PDFs, images, video, audio, or other files. But remember that the same sharing permissions apply. If someone only gives you viewing privileges, you can only view comments, but can't make new comments or share the file with others.

You can continue to convert Microsoft Office files in G Suite, of course. In Google Drive, right click on an Office file and click Open. Select Docs, Sheets or Slides. You can also install the Office Editing for Docs, Sheets & Slides Chrome extension when you want to edit the Microsoft Office files. The extension is a part of the Office Compatibility Mode in Google Drive and works with DOC, XLS, and PPT file formats.