Open Google Drive files with PDFBetter

Set it up once

1. 1

   Step 1: Add PDFBetter to Google Drive

   Install it from the Google Workspace Marketplace (step by step), or in PDFBetter click Settings at the bottom of the sidebar, then Integrations → Connect Google Drive. Either way, PDFBetter joins Drive's Open with menu.

2. 2

   Step 2: Reload Google Drive

   If Drive was already open in another tab, reload it so the menu picks up PDFBetter.

Open a file

1. 1

   Step 1: Right-click the file

   In Google Drive on the web, right-click a file. To open several, select them first (up to 20), then right-click one of them.

2. 2

   Step 2: Choose Open with → PDFBetter

   PDFBetter opens in a new tab and shows Opening your file from Google Drive… while it brings the file in.

3. 3

   Step 3: Work on it

   One file opens straight in the editor. Several are listed under Opened … files; click one to open it. Each file is now a document in your PDFBetter account.

What opens, and how

The first time

The first time you use Open with, PDFBetter asks you to log in, or to create a free account if you're using it as a guest. If Google Drive isn't connected yet, Google's permission screen opens next with your Drive account already chosen: keep the Google Drive permission ticked and continue. You come straight back and the file opens. After that, files open without these steps.

Shared drives and shared files

Files in shared drives, files shared with you and files shared by link open the same way, as long as your Google account can view them. PDFBetter works on a copy, so you don't need edit access to the file in Drive.

Save it back to Drive

In the editor, choose Done → Save to Google Drive. The PDF goes to the folder you chose in Settings → Integrations, or to a PDFBetter folder in My Drive if you haven't chosen one. It's a new file next to your original, never a replacement, and it counts as a download. More ways to save to Drive.