Bulk Convert Google Sheets from a Shared Drive to PDF
Team spreadsheets often live in shared drives where multiple people have access. Bulk converting spreadsheets from a shared drive works the same as converting from your personal Drive, provided you have at least Viewer access to each file. Open the shared drive, select the spreadsheets, and run the extension.
Navigating to shared drives
In Google Drive, click 'Shared drives' in the left panel. Select your team's shared drive, then navigate to the folder containing the spreadsheets. Select the files you want and run the Docs to PDF extension from the Chrome toolbar.
Permission requirements
Viewer access is enough to export a spreadsheet to PDF. If a file has 'Disable download' enabled by the owner or the shared drive admin, the export will fail for that file. The extension reports these failures at the end of the batch.
Where the PDFs go
Exported PDFs are saved to your local downloads folder, not back to the shared drive. If the team needs the PDFs in a shared location, upload them to the shared drive after the batch completes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can contractors or external users export from a shared drive?
Yes, as long as they have been added to the shared drive with at least Viewer access and have the Docs to PDF extension installed.
Does this work for Google Workspace for Education shared drives?
Yes. Shared drives in Google Workspace for Education follow the same access rules. Viewer access allows export.
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