Google Drive shared file links in WORD 365, Windows 10


  1. Posts : 3
    Windows 10
       #1

    Google Drive shared file links in WORD 365, Windows 10


    I’ve tried other forums, but to no avail, so here goes:

    I am preparing some fairly comprehensive documentation for a charitable organisation. I have a “master” WORD document which as well as containing text, refers to numerous (perhaps 100) other files (policy documents and the like). It would be too cumbersome to specifically include each Policy document in the “master” document. Some of the files are DOC files and some PDF. (I say "master" here, NOT because I am using a WORD Master document and sub documents, the ancient troubled approach. By "master" I mean that this document points to all the others.)

    Instead, what I hope to do is to provide a hyperlink to each of these documents so that a reader may click on the link and open the particular file of interest. On my local machine this is straightforward using the “Insert link” function in WORD. I use a utility named “PathCopy” as a simple way to capture the names of all files to which I need to refer on a local drive. I can easily then include the name of the file in the text of the document. I can also easily create a link for each of these files using their full path and filename provided by “PathCopy”, then insert this link into the master document. This is very much simpler and more accurate than typing out each file name and link.

    Unfortunately, the files to which I need to link are in a shared Google Drive folder. They would also be shared with anyone else to whom the “master” document is sent. I can go to a shared file on Google Drive in my browser, copy the link and then paste it into the WORD document using the ”Insert link” function. For a one-off this is fine but it is quite tedious when there are dozens of files. The other problem is that the actual file name used in the link is NOT the name of the WORD file (e.g. A file with the name “DI.01 Management of Duality of Interest.docx” translates to something like “0B-4c-f6VSTsKR0dQTzdZY2I2MGZHeXZMWkpqRUVhWm80a2dJ” in the link. This means it is not a simple process of creating the links by grabbing a list of the (“Plain English”) filenames and then within WORD developing the link.

    Has anyone faced this problem – or can anyone tell me it is either possible or not possible please? Any advice would be most welcome - even pointing me elsewhere.

    In summary, in WORD, creating links to Google Drive shared files on a one-off basis is straightforward. Doing so for dozens or 100 files is most tedious and potentially error prone. I’d like to avoid both issues.

    Thanks folks.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 5,286
    Win 10 Pro x64
       #2

    If you are linking a document located on a shared drive, use hypelink instead of a direct URL. You can indicate the name of the file on your MASTER WORD and insert a hypelink to it. So, when the reader clicks the name of the file, it will open that particular file directly.

    Here's a sample I created. The hyperlink opens the file directly from G Drive.

    Google Drive shared file links in WORD 365, Windows 10-image.png

    Here is the link to My Word Document that you can test.

    Both documents are located in the same folder on G Drive. You can put them on any folder that you want as long as you have the hyperlink inserted to your MASTER WORD.

    Google Drive shared file links in WORD 365, Windows 10-image.png
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 3
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #3

    badrobot,
    Thanks so much for this. it looks to be my solution.
    I apologise for not responding earlier. An issue is that I am NOT the administrator of our system and only occasionally get to be in a situation where I can act in that capacity. That obviously was part of the issue I was (unknowingly) battling.
    Much appreciative of a knowledgeable user!
    Thanks again.

    - - - Updated - - -

    badrobot's solution works fine! For one file at a time.
    This is most helpful, however, as there are dozens of files involved, I was hoping to be able to collect all the URL's in one go, rather than selecting each file one at a time and then copying and pasting.
    Any further suggestions most welcome.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 5,286
    Win 10 Pro x64
       #4

    vwq47 said:
    badrobot,
    Thanks so much for this. it looks to be my solution.
    I apologise for not responding earlier. An issue is that I am NOT the administrator of our system and only occasionally get to be in a situation where I can act in that capacity. That obviously was part of the issue I was (unknowingly) battling.
    Much appreciative of a knowledgeable user!
    Thanks again.

    - - - Updated - - -

    badrobot's solution works fine! For one file at a time.
    This is most helpful, however, as there are dozens of files involved, I was hoping to be able to collect all the URL's in one go, rather than selecting each file one at a time and then copying and pasting.
    Any further suggestions most welcome.
    You're welcome.

    You can't get individual URL in "one go" as each link is unique and contains different sets of characters. Unless you want to link the folder URL that contains all the files instead of individual file URL. You can say: See file "Filename" in this folder: (Folder URL or hyperlink).
      My Computer


 

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