Save Converted PDFs to Google Drive
Saving converted PDFs back to Google Drive puts them in the same ecosystem as your source documents. They are accessible from any device, shareable with anyone, and backed up by Google. The Docs to PDF extension downloads PDFs locally first, and then you can move them to Drive.
Moving PDFs from downloads to Drive
After converting, your PDFs are in your local downloads folder. Open Google Drive in Chrome and navigate to the target folder. Drag the PDF files from your Chrome downloads bar (the bar at the bottom of the browser) into the Drive folder. Chrome uploads them immediately.
Using Apps Script for direct Drive saves
Apps Script can export a document to PDF and save it directly to a Drive folder using DriveApp.createFile(). This skips the local download entirely. The PDF appears in Drive as if you had uploaded it manually, but without the manual step.
Organizing PDFs alongside source documents
A simple organization pattern is to create a 'PDFs' subfolder inside each project folder. Source Google Docs go in the main folder, converted PDFs go in the subfolder. This keeps everything together and makes it easy to find both the editable and the finalized version.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I save a PDF to Drive without it downloading to my computer first?
Using the Chrome extension, no. Using Apps Script, yes. Apps Script can save directly to Drive without a local copy.
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