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Google Drive FAQs

Documents

Absolutely! You can share any type of document created in Google Drive with your colleagues. Then all you can collaborate on it in real-time, each person making their own edits. You not only see other people's changes as they happen, but you can tell who's doing what! Learn more about sharing and collaboration (external link) .

You can create documents, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings, and forms.

For files other than Google formats (document, presentation, spreadsheet, form and drawing), Google will automatically delete old versions after 30 days or 100 revisions, unless one choose not to automatically delete them. Follow the procedure shown below:

How to disable automatic deletion of file versions

  1. Select a (non Google format) file in Google Drive on the web.
  2. Expand the More dropdown menu and select "Manage revisions."
    Note: the Google format files do not show this option
  3. Make sure the box in the "Do not auto delete" column next to revisions you want not deleted automatically is checked. If not, please checkmark it.

For Google Format files, the revisions may be pruned. The pruning process is more likely occur to spreadsheet: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/95902?hl=en (external link) .

Google has launched a new menu of services called “Add-ons for Docs and Sheets”. Add-ons are applications created by third-parties (non-Google and non-TMU) and have the ability to interact with your Google Apps for Edu account (your TMU Gmail, calendar and Google drive, and other Google Apps for Edu services).

Individuals cannot turn on the ability to install these services. They must either be enabled for everyone by TMU or for no one. Working with the Privacy and Security officers, CCS has been investigating whether these services should be enabled at TMU.

Each add-on requires the person who used it to agree to permissions such as granting the third party the ability to view and manage your email or send email on your behalf.

The third parties also have separate terms of service from TMU’s contract with Google. This means that these applications are not covered by our agreement with Google, which raises privacy, security, legal and records management concerns.  

It also means that the privacy and security requirements we have established for the core Google Apps for Edu services may not be met by these third-party applications.

For example, while testing, we discovered that some of these applications do not support TMU’s expectation of “privacy as a default setting,” one of the seven principles of Privacy by Design (external link) .

As a result of all of these risk factors, we have decided not to enable the ability to install add-ons in Google Apps for Edu at TMU.

Please note that by design from Google, TMU users will always see the “Add-ons” menu while in a Google doc or spreadsheet and while users can browse these add-ons, they will not be able to install and use them since TMU’s Google Apps Administrators in CCS have not enabled this service for TMU.

Import Files

Yes, you can import the following types of documents into Google Drive:

  • Microsoft Word (.doc, .docx)
  • Microsoft Excel (.xls, .xlsx)
  • Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt, .pps, .pptx)
  • Rich Text (.rft)
  • Plain text (.txt)
  • HTML (.html)
  • PDF (.pdf)
  • Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop (.ai, .psd)
  • Autodesk AutoCad (.dxf)
  • Apple Pages (.PAGES)
  • Scalable Vector Graphics (.SVG)
  • PostScript (.EPS, .PS)
  • TrueType (.TTF)
  • XML Paper Specification (.XPS)
  • Comma-separated values (.csv)
  • Tab-separated values (.tsv)
  • OpenDocument Text (.odt)
  • OpenDocument Spreadsheet (.ods)
  • StarOffice (.sxw)

Sharing

Sure, as long as this option has been enabled by your Google Apps administrator. If it is, you can share any of your documents with customers, suppliers, and others outside of your domain.

When a user accesses a live form that requires TMU sign-in:

  1. If the user has logged in to his/her TMU google account, the user will be able to view the live form.
  2. If the user did not log in to any google accounts at all, the user will be prompted to log on to ryerson.ca domain to gain access, hence the Central Authentication System (CAS) login screen.
  3. If the user has logged in to any google accounts other than TMU google account, she will be prompted with

By clicking Request access, the user is essentially requesting access to the raw form as collaborator. If the original form creator grants the request, she essentially shares the view rights to the raw form (including the spreadsheet behind the form), which should not happen.

Possible Solution:

  1. Ask your students to log out of any personal non-TMU Gmail account. If their TMU mail is forwarded to a personal Gmail Account, they will have to copy the link to the form and paste it to a note/document/text file, then log out of their personal Gmail before that link will work.
  2. Login to my.torontomu.ca and open a new browser tab or window, then paste the link copied in step 1. This will ensure that the student is logged in to CAS before accessing the link to the form you wanted to share.

Going Google Drive (1:38)