Automatically Save Google Docs as PDF for Recurring Reports
Automatically saving for recurring reports means the PDF version of a weekly or monthly report is available without anyone having to remember to export it. A scheduled Apps Script trigger handles the export on the same day each cycle.
The reporting workflow
Automatically saving for recurring reports fits a workflow where someone updates a Google Doc on a regular schedule, for example every Friday afternoon, and the report PDF needs to be available to stakeholders in Drive by a certain time. The Apps Script trigger runs after the expected update time and exports whatever version of the document it finds.
Setting up the weekly or monthly trigger
In the Apps Script Triggers panel, choose Time-driven > Week timer or Month timer. Set the day of the week or day of the month and the hour. The script runs at that time automatically, exports the document to PDF, and saves it to the designated folder.
Notifying stakeholders
After saving the PDF to Drive, send an email notification to report recipients with the Drive link to the PDF. Use MailApp.sendEmail() in the script with the link generated from DriveApp.getFileById().getUrl(). Recipients get the link in their inbox at the same time every cycle.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I make sure the document is updated before the script runs?
Set the trigger to run a few hours after the expected update time. For example, if reports are finalized by 5 PM on Fridays, set the trigger for 7 PM on Fridays. The script exports whatever version is current at that time.
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