Tech Tips and Questions

Got a tech question? Get in touch or leave a comment on Twitter or Instagram and I’ll see if I can help.

All
G Suite
Gmail
Google Calendar
Google Docs
Google Keep

How do I see my Word Count on Google Docs?

See a Google Docs Word Count on your PC

To see your word count for any Google Docs document (gosh that is an unwieldy phrase isn’t it) use the keyboard shortcut Shift + Control + C. This will bring up your word and character count:

And if you highlighted a section of text before displaying the word count, you will see that word count as a selection of the entire document

If you want, you can display the word count in the bottom left of the document window whilst you type by clicking in the checkbox. Click on the drop down arrow to get full details.

This display will stop working after 2,964 words though – don’t ask me why!

See a Google Docs Word Count on your mobile

If you’re creating a Google Docs document on your mobile you can see the word count by tapping on the 3 vertical dots in the top right of the document and then tapping on Word Count.

Are Google Keep notes encrypted?

No.

I love Google Keep but I definitely do not recommend storing any sensitive information via it. Store all that information (passwords, personal identification information, bank details etc) in an app that’s specifically designed to hold all that information securely.

Are Google Calendar tasks private?

Yes they are. In fact they are so private that you can’t even share them with someone else, which is a major failing in my opinion and one of the reasons I still keep using Google Keep.

Want to learn more about Google Keep and how you can use it in your small business? Check out my articles here (it’s being written in chapters because at some stage I plan to make a book out of it)

If you’re interested in some of the things you can do with Google Tasks as a small business owner then check out a couple of my articles: Getting Started with Google Tasks and Doing More with Google Tasks

Wondering why you can’t see your Google Tasks on your mobile’s Google Calendar app?

Is it possible to export Google Docs to PDF?

Yes it is. The ways to do this differ depending on whether you’re using your PC or the mobile app though.

Exporting to PDF on your PC

In Drive on your PC open your Google Doc and select File / Download / PDF document. You’ll get a PDF document downloaded directly to your machine which you can then attach to an email or upload to another file sharing service if necessary.

Alternatively you can share a PDF version of your Google Doc without ever downloading it. This document will be dynamic – meaning every time you make any changes to the original Google Doc document, those changes will be reproduced in the shared PDF document. So be careful about changing that original document!

Select your document
Click the Share button
Click Copy link
Click Done. The link will be automatically exported to your clipboard.
After you paste the link in your email, text message or other location, replace edit?usp=sharing with export?format=pdf before sending the link.

Now when you (or anyone else) click the link, you will download a PDF version of your document.

Exporting to PDF via the mobile app

From the mobile app, open the document you want to export.

Tap on the three vertical dots in the top right of the document
Tap on Share and Export
Tap on Save As and select PDF document.
Tap on OK.

The Google Doc will now be saved as a PDF file to your mobile.

Or, you can send a PDF version of your Google Doc directly to someone:

Tap on the three vertical dots to the right of the document name
Tap on Send a Copy
Choose how you want to share the PDF document.

Tap on the three vertical dots to the right of the document name
Tap on Link sharing off [link sharing will be turned on and the link will be automatically copied]

Choose how you want to share the PDF document.
After you paste the link in your email, text message or other location, replace edit?usp=drivesdk with export?format=pdf before sending the link.

Now when you (or anyone else) click the link, you will download a PDF version of your document.

Can Google Docs open a PDF File? The short answer is…yes

Actually that’s the long answer as well! To open a PDF file in Google Docs just click on it. You won’t be able to edit it, but you can definitely read it.

If you would like to edit the PDF, then you’ll need a 3rd party add-on – go to the Add-ons menu in Google Drive and click on Get Add-ons. (If you’re using GSuite, then this option might not be available to you)

You can then search for PDF add-ons to find one that suits your requirements.

You can also save any Google Doc as a PDF file – click on File / Download and choose PDF document.

How can I see when a Google Calendar event was created?

There’s two ways to see when a Google Calendar event was created. If you’re using G Suite, then the administrator will have access to an audit log that shows this detail. But if you’re using the free version of Google Calendar, then you’ll need to undertake a couple more steps.

From Calendar settings export your Calendar. It will be downloaded as a zip file.
Open the zip file and then open the icalendar file with Notepad or another text editor.

There’s a lot of information there but for each event you can see the date it was created as well as the date it was last modified.

The date is shown in YYYYMMDD with Greenwich Mean Time as well. So in my example the event was created on 23 July 2020 at 11:45am GMT and hasn’t been modified since then.

Are Google Keep notes backed up?

This is an interesting question because it all depends on what you mean by ‘backed up’. In one sense, yes they are backed up as they are all stored on a Google server, so if you completely wipe your phone for example you’ll still be able to access your Google Keep notes. But, if you were to permanently delete all your Google Keep notes and then completely wipe your phone, then there’s no way to recover those notes.

Personally I regularly create copies of my important Google Keep notes on Google Docs (which is a nice feature that’s built right into Google Keep). That way I am backing up those notes in a separate area so should something happen to my Google Keep account, I can still access the notes that are important to me.

Alternatively, you could choose to regularly download your Google Keep information from takeout.google.com which is another great way to backup and store data that you don’t want to lose.

Where can I buy G Suite from?

This is one of my favourite questions because it means the small business owner has realised the advantages and benefits of G Suite in helping them become more productive and collaborate more both within their business, as well as externally with their clients and customers.

You can buy G Suite from a third party reseller or you can buy it directly from https://gsuite.google.com/. Click on Pricing and you’ll be directed to the page that’s appropriate for your region. Select the plan that works for you and then click on Start Free Trial to get started setting up G Suite for your small business.

(and hey, if you need help getting started drop me a line – I’m more than happy to help out!)

How do I find out what G Suite plan I have?

If you’re a G Suite administrator, then it’s pretty easy to find out what G Suite plan you’re on.

Log into admin.google.com and from the dashboard click on the Billing icon.
You’ll see here the G Suite plan that you’re signed up to; the number of users and the cost per month.

You can also make changes to the plan by scrolling down the page and selecting ‘Find out More’

and if you’re not a G Suite administrator? Well, you’ll need to find them and ask them!

Why can’t I see my default Google Calendar on the mobile app?

Ok, this is confusing but that ‘Events’ calendar on the Google Calendar mobile app? It is your main Google Calendar.

Basically, for some reason known only to Google, no matter what you call your default calendar on the laptop (and you can call it anything you want there) it will always be named ‘Events’ on the mobile app.

Can I RSVP to a Google Calendar invite from an alternate email address

This question is asked a lot, and it is weird that Google Calendar doesn’t allow for this, given you can add alternate email addresses to your calendar.

If you want the RSVP to come from your alternate email then you need to respond directly from that email, not from the main or default email.

Can I share Google Calendar notifications with someone else?

This is a question I see a lot and the short answer is no, it’s not possible to share notifications of a calendar event with someone else. And personally, I think this is a good thing.

Regardless of what calendar an event attendee is using, they have the freedom to set their own notifications to suit their own schedules and preferences – I for example like to get two reminders for really important events, whilst someone else might prefer only one reminder or even a series of reminders spaced out over a period of hours/days.

Are Gmail accounts free?

The answer is both Yes…and No!

Yes, it is free to set up and run a GMail account. However, there is a limit to how much storage you get for free with a GMail account and once you run out, you’ll need to buy storage before you can send or receive emails. The cost will depend on which country you live in. For Australians, it starts at $2.49 a month for a total 100GB.

I wouldn’t get too concerned though – the free storage is a very generous 15GB shared across Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos. As an indicator, I have over 66,600 emails in GMail dating back 10 years which take up just over 11GB of space.